E-Waste

Ghana's Biggest City Sits a Smoldering Wasteland

Life is really difficult for the people of Ghana; they eat here, surrounded by e-waste
Some of the boys burn old foam on top of computers to melt away the plastic, leaving behind scraps of copper and iron they can collect to sell. The younger boys use magnets from old speakers to gather up the smaller pieces left behind at the burn site.
Old computers first began arriving in West Africa a few years ago, people thought that they were donations. Little did they know what this would turn into a terrible environmental and health problem polluting rivers used for bathing, cooking, and drinking.
No later than sooner have exporters learned to exploit the loopholes by labeling junk computers as "donations."