Background

It seems like every two months Apple releases a new model of the iPhone while Samsung releases an updated droid to keep a competitive edge on that iPhone we're all buying. Rapid commercialization of electronic goods over the past few decades and the continuous development of new electronic products with short life-spans, has resulted in massive amounts of electronic waste. However, many of the nations that consume the most electronics often have highly limited resources for properly disposing of e-waste. Most e-waste, including computers and televisions, is composed of metals and materials that can all be recycled and resold for a profit, but unfortunately the majority of it does not undergo this process. The EPA estimates that 2.37 million short tons of electronics were ready for end-of-life management in 2009, but in the absence of comprehensive e-waste recycling programs and low consumer awareness, only about 25% of these electronics by weight were collected for recycling, while the rest ended up in landfills. 

When e-waste originally started to be collected, many recyclers would resell computers that were still functional to developing countries like Ghana at around 10% of the original retail value. However, this system, which was originally a benevolent attempt to help bridge the “digital divide,” has become a way in which countries like the US can illegally dump their e-waste on developing countries that have no resources to properly dispose of them. Around 75% of used computers sold to Ghanaian purchasers are nonfunctional. These unusable computers end up in e-waste dumps like Agbogbloshie just west of Accra, the capital of Ghana. The images below from the Journal of Health and Pollution show the location of the site.





E-waste dumping is problematic for the environment, public health and personal and national security.

(1) Environment: 
Electronics contain many heavy metals and other elements that damage local ecosystems. The main contaminants that are left once the electronics are picked of their values are copper, zinc, lead and tin, bromine, arsenic and mercury, all of which are harmful to both the environment as well as the workers that spend day and night in the e-waste dump site. These contaminants do not only pollute the site itself, but also spread as they run off into the nearby Korle Lagoon which has become one of the most polluted water bodies on Earth. This lagoon is also the major outlet into the Atlantic Ocean, sending these chemicals out to sea. While these materials are left for waste, we see a larger global necessity to mine for new virgin metals. This mining creates a much higher carbon footprint than recycling e-waste could have.

(2) Public health: 
The contaminants listed above have also led to the pollution of the area’s groundwater, creating a public health risk. In Ghana, lead poisoning has become a serious problems as lead levels around Agbogbloshie are over one hundred times the legal limit. Young boys also put their lives at risk searching through these sites with their bare hands, wearing nothing to protect their feet but worn flip-flop sandles. They break apart the computers in the dump and burn the plastic off of plastic cords in order to collect copper and other metals that they will then sell for a small profit. These boys leave the dumps with infected gashes. Furthermore the burning of materials releases huge amounts of poisonous dioxins into the air. This had lead to disease and cancer amongst people working to tear these pieces apart, including the finding of flame retardant in their blood.

(3) Security: 
If computer hard drives containing classified information (government data, credit card information, etc) are not properly wiped before the computer is exported, it is liable to be exploited by criminals.

The 1989 Basel Convention required developed countries to warn developing countries of shipments containing hazardous waste. This convention advanced into the 1995 Basel Ban, which banned these shipments to poor countries altogether. Unfortunately, what sounds like a success story has yet to take effect, leaving sites such as the one in Agbogbloshie to continue to function. The EU has taken steps including regulations to encourage green manufacturing to reduce the waste left behind from our electronics. The United States was one of the three countries, including Afghanistan and Haiti, that had signed the Basel Convention but has yet to ratify it. Although we do have the technology to properly discard E- waste, it is much cheaper to send our wasted items overseas, and as with most things, cost is our primary concern. Even with the attempts of developing countries to put restrictions on their sites, there will always be another location willing to accept our poisonous trash.

The purpose of this study is to determine a method for identifying and measuring e-waste dump sites throughout the world, based off of a study of the Agbogbloshie dump site in Ghana, Africa. Our primary source will be a previous study by Terrence Slonecker, et al. that looks at remote sensing applications in examining E-waste. However, we hope to apply this to a specific area to come up with a more precise method for identifying and measuring E-waste, as well as perhaps new remote sensing techniques that might be used in the process. We will also supplement our research with background studies of this site from Samuel Agyei Mensah and Marin Oteng Ababio's Perceptions of health and environmental impacts of e-waste management in Ghana. Other sources we utilized can be found under the "Sources" tab.