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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-behind-e-waste-dump-africa-180957597/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-..
by tremon 6y ago
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-behind-e-waste-dump-africa-180957597/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-...
> reporters come here thinking this is the destination for old laptops exported from the United States [..] But this isn’t the destination at all. The computer shops are.
> According to the United Nations Environment Programme, 85 percent of the e-waste dumped in Ghana and other parts of West Africa is produced in Ghana and West Africa
I think "produced" is a massive misnomer here. For as far as I know, there are no high-tech electronics factories in Africa. What the 85% figure refers to, I guess, is the part of the waste that was part of the local economy before ending up at the dump. But from the first quote, that still means the site is filled with discarded items from the US and Europe, just not directly.
- ars 6y agoSo .... discarded items from the US and Europe are given new life and reused in Ghana? And this is bad somehow? Isn't reuse the ideal situation? Not to mention e-waste vs plastic trash are rather different topics. I repeat what I said: First world countries do not deal with trash by sending it to second world countries, despite being oft repeated, this is not actually true.
- tremon 6y agoI haven't claimed anything about right or wrong. I'm just pointing out that the claims "much waste on landfills in Africa comes from first-world countries" and "first-world countries do not dump their trash in Africa" can both be true.