Blame Game

As more and more of us use and replace electronic devices, manufacturers have failed to offer solutions for how to deal with the resulting waste, and much of it is exported to a toxic dump in Ghana where scavengers do their best to salvage what they can. Blame Game investigates the murky world of global electronic waste disposal, where legal grey areas, a lack of investment in recycling, unscrupulous businesses and politicised application of the existing laws lead to wasted opportunities, environmental degradation and for the people of Agbogbloshie - hellish living conditions in a toxic dumping ground. Taking us deep inside this hidden world we meet those who suffer from our addiction to new devices, working in hazardous conditions and prone to cancers and other illnesses from an early age. But without the dump, thousands would be without jobs, tonnes of e-waste would not be recycled and Ghanaians would miss out on life-altering technology. A global web of policy makers and businesses are out of synch, each blaming the other and in the resulting chaos and passing of responsibility, huge opportunities are being missed.