Illegal electronics recycling is a toxic business on a global scale. Why do three quarters of Europe's electronic waste disappear from the official recycling system? In the suburbs of Accra, Ghana, children play at dismantling scrapped electronic equipment, surrounded by toxic fumes in a sadly-famous, uncontrolled rubbish dump.
The film takes this site as its point of departure, and is driven forward by Ghanaian journalist Mike Anane, who is an expert on the environment. He wants to know why his country has become the trash can of the developed countries. This lucid and efficient investigation by Cosima Dannoritzer (The Light Bulb Conspiracy) into several European countries, Asia and the U.S., reveals the apparatus of large-scale trafficking, as well as a complex chain of responsibility and collusion.
Illegal electronics recycling is a toxic business on a global scale. Why do three quarters of Europe's electronic waste disappear from the official recycling system? In the suburbs of Accra, Ghana, children play at dismantling scrapped electronic equipment, surrounded by toxic fumes in a sadly-famous, uncontrolled rubbish dump.
The film takes this site as its point of departure, and is driven forward by Ghanaian journalist Mike Anane, who is an expert on the environment. He wants to know why his country has become the trash can of the developed countries. This lucid and efficient investigation by Cosima Dannoritzer (The Light Bulb Conspiracy) into several European countries, Asia and the U.S., reveals the apparatus of large-scale trafficking, as well as a complex chain of responsibility and collusion.
General Note
Includes public performance rights.
Content Note
-- E-Waste Trafficking (2:15)
-- E-Waste Mission (3:56)
-- European E-Waste Recycling System (3:09)
-- E-Waste Trail Experiment (2:56)
-- Spain's E-Waste Theft (2:44)
-- International E-Waste Trafficking Ring (3:57)
-- E-Waste Directive (2:46)
-- Export Control Issues (2:21)
-- American E-Waste Challenge (1:56)
-- U.S. E-Waste Export Routes (2:31)
-- Hong Kong E-Waste Loophole (3:09)
-- Hong Kong E-Waste Smuggling Routes (3:08)
-- Guiyu E-Waste Industry (3:04)
-- Illegal Chip Trade (2:42)
-- Monitoring for Recycled E-Waste (2:40)
-- E-Waste Arrival in Ghana (2:56)
-- Near End of Life Equipment (1:50)
-- Reducing E-Waste (3:23)
-- Credits: E-Waste Tragedy (0:54).