Thousands of broken televisions, computers, microwaves and refrigerators are being illegally exported to African countries and dumped gigantic landfills like Agbogbloshie in Ghana because it costs less than recycling them in their countries of origin, campaigners claim.
41 million tonnes of 'e-waste' worth over £34billion were discarded globally in 2014, according to shocking report by United Nations University who claim only 6 million tonnes of that was recycled properly.
Polluted: 'Millions of tonnes' of the world's e-waste ends up in Africa where it is dumped in landfills like Agbogbloshie (pictured) in Ghana's capital Accra
Damaging: The mountains of 'e-waste' that builds up in landfill sites such as Agbogbloshie (pictured) pollutes the local water and harms the health of the scavengers whose livelihoods depend on these broken goods
Broken: Defunct televisions, computers and keyboards (pictured) are transported to west-African countries like Ghana because 'it is cheaper than recycling it properly in European Union nations'
Relic: The whole of the African continent produced only 1.9 metric tonnes of waste and yet 'millions of tonnes' of broken products (pictured) end up there
Dangerous: Young men sift through the mountains of scraps in landfills like Agbogbloshie (pictured), hoping to find something worth selling in local markets
Defunct: Shipping broken or unusable equipment (pictured) to Africa is illegal under the Basel convention, according to the Head of United Nations University (UNU)
Pollution: Brokers manage to ship containers of illegal e-waste (pictured) to the continent by fraudulently categorising it as 'reusable'
Toxic: Old fridges (pictured) that now reside in filthy landfill sites such as Agbogbloshie contain chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which damage the ozone layer
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news
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