E-waste must be handled with utmost care

To say the Old Fadama slum community, located at Agbogbloshie in the Greater Accra Region, is known for the open burning of electronic waste by dealers in scrap metal is an understatement.

A visit to the area shows the incessant burning of e-waste, resulting in the emission of thick, dark and foggy clouds of smoke that contain toxic gases into the atmosphere in volumes that pose health and environmental threats to members of the public.

Equally disturbing is the situation where children are exposed to the hazardous scrap metal business, as dozens of children are actively involved in manually disassembling and burning parts of obsolete computers, fridges, televisions and other e-waste to extract useful materials.

One other worrying development is that the persons who are currently engaged in the burning of e-waste were part of dealers in scrap metal who were displaced following the demolition of the infamous Agbogbloshie scrapyard on July 1, 2021.

The many tonnes of e-waste the scrap dealers dump in the Odaw River have left it choked and solidified such that grass has started growing on it.

The Daily Graphic finds the resurgence of the scrap metal business at Old Fadama worrying because of the multiplier effects it has on human lives and the environment.

Health experts say the inhalation of polluted air from toxic gases cause respiratory diseases, chronic nausea and severe headaches.

They add that aside from being a major environmental risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, burning of e-waste also causes heart failure, stroke, reproductive issues, abortions and infertility.

In addition, environmental health experts have cautioned that emissions from e-waste contain metals such as lead, manganese, copper, boron and zinc that pollute land and water bodies.

The Daily Graphic also sees the open burning of e-waste as a global environmental challenge because it accelerates the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thereby directly contributing to global warming and climate change.

According to climate change experts, when e-waste is openly burnt, it releases harmful gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), both potent greenhouse gases (GHGs), into the atmosphere which affects the climate system.

Pursuant to Ghana's obligations under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal, the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act, 2016 (Act 917) (the E-Waste Act) was passed to regulate the treatment of hazardous, electronic and electrical waste.

The E-waste Act requires importers, exporters, manufacturers and distributors to register with the EPA so as to facilitate the tracking and flow of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE).

To promote recycling of e-waste, the Act also requires manufacturers and distributors to take back used EEE or e-waste they manufacture or sell.

 There is also an obligation to make sure that e-waste is recycled and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

The Daily Graphic is worried that in spite of this arrangement, the country is still inundated with hundreds of tonnes of e-waste which end up in the hands of informal sector players, without any proper disposal or recycling regimes.

It is also concerned that three years after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a project with a private company, Excellent Waste Management, seeking to monitor how institutions store and manage their e-waste, the initiative remains dormant.

The EPA needs to work with the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to halt the burning of e-waste by informal sector players.

More importantly, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation must expedite the processes towards the formalisation of e-waste management in the country.

The Daily Graphic believes that when the e-waste sector is formalised, it will help to protect the environment from pollution, address the health hazards posed by open burning of e-waste and create employment opportunities for many people.

As a nation, we cannot continue to dance in circles with regard to finding a comprehensive solution to the management and the prevention of the dumping of e-waste in the country.

The health of every Ghanaian matters and equally important is the sustainable management of our environment.