http://accrareport.com/feature/agbogbloshie-a-local-solution-for-a-global-tragedy/
It is not the largest e-waste dump in the world.
And these people who spent time there describe it accurately.
Thanks Rafa Font and DK Osseo-Asare
People have been showing photos like this in Agbogbloshie, and referring to it as "the largest dump in the world"... Incredible.
It's not particularly big. For a city of 4.5M residents, this is a fairly modest, normal dumpsite.
Here is the largest dump in Rhode Island.
Here's a pile in East Syracuse, NY
It is not the largest e-waste dump in the world.
And these people who spent time there describe it accurately.
Thanks Rafa Font and DK Osseo-Asare
People have been showing photos like this in Agbogbloshie, and referring to it as "the largest dump in the world"... Incredible.
It's not particularly big. For a city of 4.5M residents, this is a fairly modest, normal dumpsite.
 |
| Upper central, where the smoke is. 500 containerloads per month? Not. |
Here's a pile in East Syracuse, NY
3 comments:
I was under the impression it was because of the level of pollution, as opposed to the size of the dump, that makes Agbogbloshie stand out. See: http://www.greencross.ch/en/news-info-en/case-studies/environmental-reports/ten-most-polluted-places-2013/2013/agbogbloshie-dumpsite-ghana.html
David, it has been described as both (here is a claim on size, and a specific claim of millions of tons per year).
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/50m-tonnes-ewaste-designers-manufacturers-recyclers-electronic-junk
It was ranked - alphabetically - on the top of the list you post, which is sourced to Blacksmith Institute, whose source is Dr. Jack Caravanos of CUNY. However, Blacksmith has clarified that the "list" is not a ranking but a tool to attract attention. No other scrap metal yards, in Africa or Asia or anywhere, were sampled by Caravanos. Instead, his paper cites the Michigan paper which cited Basel Action Network, which has since disavowed the claim. i'm writing this from Accra by the way, and was at the site 2 days ago. I've written to Dr. Caravanos and to Richard Fuller of Blacksmith asking them to come public with the clarifications their associate gave me last January. They are not publishing a "top ten" list this year in part due to confusion about methodology and the use of "ranking" by the press.
Sorry, here is the other link with a specific, outrageously incorrect claim about the volume. It is less than one percent of this volume. http://www.weather.com/science/news/10-most-toxic-places-in-the-world
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