A Week In A Toxic Waste Dump

[It’s a] searing and gritty look into life in a whole different part of the world (Source: @michellelloyd4811 2023, np link).

They say to understand a person you have to walk a mile in their shoes. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Ghana is the country where my parents were born. I’ve been to the capital – Accra – dozens of times but this visit will be different. I’m about to spend a week living and working in one of the most polluted environments on the planet – Ghana’s notorious waste dump, Agbogbloshie. I’ve been told about a rubbish dump that isn’t just a rubbish dump. It’s something that’s new to me – it’s an e-dump, so it’s predominantly electronic waste. It’s computers, it’s TVs, rubbish that has value. Recycling, West Africa style: consumer electronics smashed, sorted and valuable metals extracted. This is where technology goes to die. I’m heading towards a site that 80,000 people call home and where conditions are so brutal that many people die in their 20s. … It’s been alleged that the rubbish arrives in Ghana from all over the world including the UK. But are we complicit in creating this place and what’s life like for the people who eek out a living on it (Source: Yates 2017 in Best Documentary 2023, np link)?

[Presenter] Reggie [Yates] … heads to … one of the largest electronic waste dumps in the world. Nicknamed Agbogbloshie, this 20-acre site was established in the 1990s and [was] … a former wetland area with rivers, farms and a lagoon (Source: Pure Planet Recycling 2017, np link).

[Now a]n electronic graveyard littered with fridges, computers, air conditioning units and TV monitors, [it] sits beneath a permanent plume of thick black smoke (Source: Pure Planet Recycling 2017, np link).

Dumping e-waste is illegal and the chemicals in the soil in Agbogbloshie mean it has been described as ‘the most toxic place on earth’ (Source: Best Documentary 2023, np link).

That’s because Agbogbloshie’s ‘burner boys’ – a name given to the manual workers at the very bottom of the chain – burn the waste electronics, which are bought and dismantled in bulk by wholesalers, to salvage precious metals like copper, aluminium and lead (Source: Pure Planet Recycling 2017, np link).

[In Ghana: a week in a toxic waste dump] Reggie discovers first-hand what life is like for the people who eek out a living on the site (Source: Best Documentary 2023, np link).

[Reggie narrating:] The burner boys provide a service. Cables that have been stripped out of old electrical goods can be brought to them at the edge of the site to have the plastic burned off. [Burner boy showing Reggie a black plastic-covered wire with wire sticking out of its end] The rubber is all removed and leave the copper.’ [Reggie:] ‘So, that’s where the money is.’ [Burner boy:] ‘Yeah’. [Reggie narrating:] It’s not pleasant, but it’s the quickest, cheapest way of exposing the raw copper underneath. [Reggie to Razak, 22, a burner boy:] ‘All of these bundles, are they yours?’ [Razak:] ‘Yes. You have to go collect this one and come back. Let’s go collect, come [Reggie] go fast! Run!’ [Reggie tips a barrow full of tangled plastic covered wires onto the ground, and the films cuts to it burning with bright organge flames and thick black smoke:] ‘How much would this be worth, a ball this size? How much is this?’ [Razak:] I can charge them like two cedis (36p). Turn this over [Reggie] so the fire can enter and burn it, easy.’ [Reggie:] ‘Inside? Like that? The heat that is coming off that is insane. And so how many hours a day will you do this for?’ [Razak:] ‘Nine hours’. [Reggie:] ‘Wow the heat!’ [Reggie to camera:] ‘I’m starting to get an idea of just how dangerous what I’m about to do is. Already, like, my mouth tastes funny and I’m spitting and I’m trying to get the taste out of my mouth. I mean, I’ve been here 5 minutes.’ [Reggie narrating:] ‘The boys are paid pennies, the odd few notes, and a bit of spare copper. It pays just enough to buy food but rarely more’ (Source: Best Documentary 2023, np link).

The [burner boys], who often work in gangs in strong competition with one another, sell the precious metals on as raw materials. They’re paid in pennies for their efforts … (Source: Pure Planet Recycling 2017, np link).

… as little as £1.90 a day for their graft … (Source: Cashin 2017, np link)

… and live in extreme poverty – rarely earning enough to move further up the chain – but they’re paying the ultimate price: with their lives (Source: Pure Planet Recycling 2017, np link).

Reggie … speaks to Awal, 25, one of the ‘burner boys’ … ‘It depends on money,’ Awal says. ‘When you have money and a job, there will be no need to burn copper. It’s for my mum, my wife and my child. That’s why I’m doing this job’ (Source: Cashin 2017, np link).

You know, I realised I had forgotten how old these guys actually are. They are husbands and they’re fathers as well and they’ve got a lot of responsibilities, but on a night out like tonight, they’re a bunch of guys in their early 20s and, when you take into account what they do for a living, I can understand why they want to let their hair down, right (Source: Yates in Best Documentary 2023, np link)?

Do you remember being a kid and, um, I know, maybe it’s just me, but when I was little, I was the kid that would put batteries in my mouth and get told, and get told off for it. That weird chemical taste – some of you might know what I’m talking about – that weird chemical taste is what I feel like I was subjected to pretty much for the entire day. I have no idea what the long-term effects of that kind of chemical and smoke inhalation actually are but I do know they can’t be good (Source: Yates in Best Documentary 2023, np link).

Exposure to these [toxic] chemicals [in Agbogbloshie’s air and soil] is believed to be especially devastating for child-bearing women and their children. Research suggests that adverse effects include fetal loss, prematurity, low birthweight, and congenital malformations (Source: Cashin 2017, np link).

You can’t help but feel for these guys, having to make a choice between bringing up their children on a toxic waste dump, or sending them to live hundreds of miles away in the north (Source: Yates in Best Documentary 2023, np link).

In a [later] scene, another ‘burner boy’ named Yaro, 27, tells a doctor about how he’s coughing up black phlegm, vomiting, and for the last four months has been experiencing chest pain and a fever (Source: Cashin 2017, np link).

[Reggie to camera:] I don’t really subscribe to the idea of favorites [Yaro’s] my favorite. Kind of a cool guy. With my time at Agbogbloshie drawing to a close, I’ve built up a strong bond with the burner boys, especially Yaro and Awal. But as I come to say my goodbyes, Yaro is at the hospital for more checks. … [As a leaving gift, the burner boys give Reggie a copper bracelet with the inscription ‘REGGIE BURNABOY’ engraved on it. Leaving the site, he meets Yaro returning from the hospital. Yaro:] ‘I went to the hospital. … They say I have a blood problem. And my lungs, some of smoke, so they need me to go and take some medication.’ [Reggie:] ‘And how are you going to pay for the medicine? You’re going to have to burn.’ [Yaro:] ‘Yeah. I’ll come try and do some work so that I can get the money to go and buy it. Yeah.’ [Reggie:] ‘At least today when you work, are you going to cover your nose – yeah – and wear some gloves?’ [Yaro:] ‘And my gloves.’ [Reggie:] This smoke is a lot. [coughs]. Yaro, I have to go. Listen, please look after yourself, OK? [Yaro:] ‘OK, I hear.’ [Reggie:] ‘Yes, make sure you cover your nose, please. Look after yourself’ (Source: Best Documentary 2023, np link).

[Reggie] makes the link between the workers’ plight and overconsumption and irresponsible disposal in the West very clear: one scene shows him pointing out items at the dump that come from British retailers such as Sainsbury’s and Curry’s (Source: Benge 2017, np link).

If dumping electronic waste is illegal, how do products from leading British retailers end up here (Source: Anon 2017, np link)?

This link is made even more explicit in one of the show’s final scenes in which Yates meets Fred, a local politician who speaks out on behalf of the people of Agbogbloshie, who states unequivocally … (Source: Benge 2017, np link).

[Fred:] The issue is from the Western world. Because if you don’t bring it, they won’t do the work. And we have a clearcut conventions and agreements. Why don’t you respect the Basel Convention? That we are not bringing that kind of waste back to this kind of developing countries. So, the cause of this problem is the Western World. United Kingdom is one of them. United States of America. We are going to give them a gift. We are donating waste and that is not fair. Because they look at the the poverty aspect of it. [Reggie:] What do you think think the future for Old Fadama [the slum on the other side of the river from the Agbogbloshie dump] is? [Fred:] I trink that in as much as we know it is a very bad practice and that it should stop. But you have to find a solution to it before. Find a way you can integrate them. Find good work for them to survive economically. … People have to recycle but recycle in economic and healthy way and you think that you are doing good (Source: Best Documentary 2023, np link).

In the Western media, Agbogbloshie is often presented as the world’s largest e-waste dump and as an environmental disaster, e.g., [Ghana: a week in a toxic waste dump]. In reality, Agbogbloshie occupies only about one square kilometer. The yard and its surroundings (a household waste dump, river, wetland) are thoroughly polluted[.] … The thick smoke from the fires contains dangerous toxins, creating serious health risks. … [A]nd the men and women working here have dangerously high levels of toxins in their blood … . At the same time, the activities in and around the yard have created thousands of jobs … . Many of the young men doing the most strenuous low-paid work come from northern Ghana, who use this work as an entry point into the urban economy … . Climate change plays an important role in their migration to Accra .. . The workers of Agbogbloshie produce spare parts for the repair of electronics, cars, bicycles, etc., thus extending their lifespan, and a large amount of the recycled metals are sold to national and international companies that re-use them (Source: van Der Velden 2018, p.11 & 12).

Reggie Yates has made a smart transition from his larkabout days as a [childrens’ TV] presenter to maker of sharp documentaries on all manner of global issues (Source: Watson 2017a, p.28).

Remarkably, his career spans almost three decades; he began working in children’s TV aged eight. In his twenties Reggie presented The Radio 1 Chart Show as well as Top Of The Pops, before moving into entertainment and then factual programmes (Source: Fagan 2020a, p.25).

Reggie Yates’ career has seen him move from fronting children’s programming, to national radio to become an RTS award-winning documentary maker. Reggie has become synonymous with critically acclaimed documentaries. His films include the BBC3 Extreme series including Reggie Yates: Extreme Russia, Extreme South Africa and Extreme UK which are all available to a worldwide audience on Netflix. In 2016, Reggie was awarded Best Presenter for the critically acclaimed Extreme Russia at the Royal Television Society Awards, Best Factual Programme at the Edinburgh TV Festival, and Best Multi-channel Programme at the Broadcast Awards. Reggie has also had other forms of successful partnerships with global brands including Airbnb, HSBC, Honda, Walkers, and EBay. In 2017, Reggie returned with a second series of The Insider for the BBC which included him spending a week in a toxic waste dump in Ghana, a week in a refugee camp in Syria and a week working as a guard at Guildford County Jail in North Carolina – the idea being that Reggie spends a week walking in someone else’s shoes to really understand their experience. … Reggie Yates is an experienced and sort-after host and speaker. His versatility makes him indispensable on the events circuit and his popularity has led him to participate in all sorts of events with a range of top global brands including PWC, Soho House, WeWork and Mercedes (Source: Anon nd, np link).

‘Do I have a weird career?’ laughs Reggie Yates amiably when I try the journo trick of throwing an old quote back at him. ‘I prefer the word honest, because that’s what I’ve tried to be in everything I do. I relish how I’ve changed and how I’ve grown.’ Change is putting it mildly. In recent years, 34-year-old Yates has been quietly sidelining his jack-of-alltrades presenter persona, which saw him front everything from The Voice to Release The Hounds, and reinventing himself as a fearless documentary maker for BBC3. His Extreme UK and Insider series … has found him tackling subjects ranging from homophobia in Russia to the refugee crisis in Syria and the dangers of a toxic waste dump in Ghana (Source: Watson 2017b, p.25).

‘The films I make are about things me and my friends talk about – they are on our radar,’ he says. ‘When I make them I am learning about myself as well as the subject I’m talking about – I’m learning along with my audience’ (Source: Watson 2017b, p.25).

Yates’s gift for empathy … makes him a natural TV performer, able to befriend anyone and everyone from a refugee camp internee to long-term prisoners and even – through gritted teeth – Russian nationalist extremists. Can all that bonhomie be genuine? ‘Yes, the connection is genuine – what I find most genuine in what I do is making an emotional connection,’ he says. ‘I try to find my own truth, my own connection, to all the subjects I make films about.’ But he sets limits: for all the onscreen empathy, Yates is careful to draw a line between the personal and the professional (Source: Watson 2017b, p.25).

[Ghana: a week in a toxic waste dump]is very successful in showing the human side to a subject often characterised by technical wording and statistics; Yates’ personable, down-to-earth style enables him to relate to the workers extremely well and he presents their story with sensitivity, respect and occasional humour, and effectively communicates the issue to an audience often unaware of these practices (Source: Benge, J 2017, np link).

By living on the dump for the week and doing the same work as these men Reggie can make more of an impact with the audience because he can give first hand experience of what their life is like that is why self reflexive documentaries are good for connecting with the audience as the viewers can feel almost as if they are living through the documentor, Reggie in this case, as they are also an outside like the viewers giving a more interactional experience then another type of documentary style like Fully Narrated for example. what i particularly liked about this documentary is that it had captions of the time written on the screen so it had a real- time style similar to a diary entry. This creates the idea that they are documenting every part of the day as you can see from the times which bits were filmed then creating the feeling of getting the full picture (Source: Barnes nd, np link).

I went to Ghana for the first time at four or five years old. My mother wasn’t with my father any more and it’s a holiday she took herself, me and my sister on. As an adult I’ve been a few times. I went back there for a documentary on the world’s largest e-waste dump in Agbogbloshie and I took our director to eat street cuisine, breakfast and soup, which at home is thrown together by the women of my family who rule the kitchen with an iron fist (Source: Yates in Hind 2017, np).

[Interviewer:] How do you approach making a documentary? [Yates:] Whenever I meet new people when I’m making a documentary, I’m excited and interested to learn not only about their lives, but what it is that powers and drives their opinion on the world. … I hope that for people watching the film, it’s a reminder their lives aren’t actually as bad as they may think and also that I am their eyes and ears in that environment. … I love to engage with people and have conversations that can be revealing, thought-provoking and change the way people look at an issue or themselves. … They should use my experiences as a lesson, and also a motivator, to actually do something about the world and the way they navigate it (Source: Fagan 2020b, np).

This is one of the greatest documentaries I’ve ever soon. Beautiful! Thank you for sharing our humanity (Source: @petersuvara 2023, np link).

The saying ‘one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure’ really comes with a deadly price (Source: @MichaelHay-c3q 2023, np link).

This documentary should be mandatory viewing for teenagers in highschool (Source: @ErikS- 2023, np link).

Why (Source: @NeoAndersonReloaded 2023, np link)?

[B]ecause I said so (Source: @jessicadog2770 2023, np link).

I had no idea about all the waste (Source: @tarramullins9679 2023, np link).

This is such an eye opening documentary about what happens to our old and broken electronics … (Source: @bob20011 2023, np link).

… [and] to see what these men are going through (Source: @renyaference3651 2023, np link).

Such hardworking people (Source: @cstotesberry572 2023, np link).

It’s amazing what humans go through for money (Source: @martincamacho2444 2023, np link).

Life is brutally hard there and yet these folks have hope, optimism and are hospitable and friendly (Source: @michellelloyd4811 2023, np link).

They are such good souls, trying to bring themselves up in such a difficult world (Source: @hitokage4 2024, np link)!

This place is straight hustle, the dudes sitting in the shop selling the wires to him were making 3xs what he was. Seems like the young guys get taking advantage of (Source: krejcii 2017, np link).

The poor guy running that fire probably only has a 10 yr life expectancy … I can smell that smoke here in my home and ocean away. The people whose life is made on the fringe have stolen my heart after seeing so many videos of this reclamation process / ‘recycling-economy’. … Bless these people whose lives are so difficult all day, every day (Source: @wrmlm37 2023, np link).

With this incredible mental power and work attitude these guys would be an asset at any workplace in Europe (Source: @latralla4577 2024, np link).

Super sad … (Source: @Jonathon1031 2023, np link).

… but also strangely uplifting to know that in spite of all their hardship these people are so kind hearted (Source: Tackit286 2017, np link).

[They] are so beautiful, smart and have so much value. It breaks my heart to see what they go through everyday. God bless these people (Source: @tarramullins9679 2023, np link).

Amazing people. A true testament to the human spirit, hard work, hope, friendship and sacrificing for your loved ones. I truly admire these men (Source: @gabbyallen9737 2023, np link).

when chief and the boys chipped in to cover the lost wallet, that really was so unexpected. it made me really emotional, the love we have for each other runs deep (Source: @Enhancedlies 2023, np link)!

They present Reggie with a copper bracelet that the group all made, right when he’s leaving. So touching (Source: Tackit286 2017, np link).

I will fully admit, I started to cry when they gave [Reggie] that bracelet (Source: @hitokage4 2024, np link)!

That moment bought tears to my eyes (Source: @tekashithetwin8413 2023, np link).

I couldn’t help bawling (Source: Seand0r 2017, np link).

I lost it (Source: BloodyIron 2017, np link).

Right? made me cry like a baby (Source: @funkyduck4743 2023, np link).

Wow they have nothing but that bracelet they gave Reggie say a lot about their humanity. Priceless (Source: @The-Perfect1 2023, np link).

Copper is the only valuable things they are searching for, and yet they made such a beautiful copper bracelet and gave Reggie. How generous they are…❤ (Source: @mustafabatoor6304 2023, np link).

[It’s a] symbol of everything they’ve done, what they suffer and search for and they gave him a piece of their blood, sweat, and tears (Source: @hitokage4 2024, np link)!

I swear that bracelet they gave him Shows so much class WOW WOW (Source: @giancarlocrumps 2023, np link).

Yeah this dirt poor people give him some of their earnings, and he eats their food and leaves them with nothing (Source: Impetus37 2017, np link).

[The burner boys and I] made the copper bangles (bracelets), and filmed the process, and I encourage the ‘boys’ (I call them guys, musketeers, or men) to give them out to reporters if they have been honest and fair with them. I take it from Reggie’s parting gift that he passed that test (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

Right! I want one now (Source: @tafarir9119 2023, np link).

They should just use copper as money instead of exchanging it. That way they can have a local economy based on copper and liquidate the copper as needed (Source: TensorBread 2017, np link).

It’s really sad and heartbreaking to see that people have to live under these poor, unhealthy and extreme conditions. I can’t imagine living a live that though 😞 (Source: @MSFTV73 2023, np link).

[It was] good to see the bloke near the end, Fred. Someone from the region who’s in a position where they can see the bigger picture and is trying to fight against it (Source: LONDONSFALLING123 2017, np link).

I sat there, horrified, as boys and men as young as 16 exposed themselves to poisonous gases, burning old electrical goods to extract the metals lying under plastic shells and encased in synthetic materials, to sell for a matter of pence to recycling merchants (Source: Willis 2018, np link).

I’ve actually been there and interviewed a few people. A lot had come from far away (like Tamale) to work there because the salary actually was quite decent compared to many other forms of employment. … A lot of people also smoked weed there to dampen the effect of the toxic gasses. But they didn’t want to wear masks even if they where provided to them. The idea of cancer risk wasn’t really a concept, most of them complained about things like, not having safety shoes (Source: rugbroed 2017, np link).

I appreciate these videos so much. They inspire me, hurt me, motivate me; shame me. I’m embarrassed at the lazy turd I am. I admire these people and part of my soul yearns to go where people work everyday for survival. My soul wants to do it but I’m weak (Source: @TinyTinaTeaParty 2023, np link).

[M]ost of us don’t realize how absolutely lucky we are 🙏❤️ … (Source: @cstotesberry572 2023, np link).

… sitting in the heat watching YouTube (Source: @Jonathon1031 2023, np link).

It makes me appreciate how Blessed I am even more (Source: @martinapelayo1270 2023, np link).

I hope you get to open that tailor shop Yaro (Source: @hitokage4 2024, np link)!

I want to help them so badly. I wish I could DIRECTLY SEND MONEY (Source: @Nefertiti0403 2024, np link).

I thought [Reggie] was going to give them money (Source: @Rafael-v8t2c 2024, np link).

Hi Reggie, can you start a gofundme for the burner boys?? am pretty sure between everyone here we can get them out of that situation and maybe in a better job (Source: @theronin 2023, np link).

Reggie you are amazing! Thank you for sharing your journey with the burner boys (Source: @anrakalejandro7361 2023, np link).

Personally, I find [Reggie] very affable and personable, relaxed and easy going, sincere and heartfelt – all very good traits to have when trying to integrate with and understand the plight of those less fortunate than you (Source: Daedalus_7777 2017, np link).

Its so refreshing to see someone treat other people less fortunate than them like the human beings they are rather than having a barrier and making it clear he was there to garner information (Source: @gabbyallen9737 2023, np link).

Finally someone who actually talks to people instead of talking down to them (Source: @filmania 2023, np link).

I love that … [h]e actually got involved, lived how they lived … (Source: @gabbyallen9737 2023, np link).

… [and] immersed himself in their situation without being condescending (Source: @emmanuel9707 2023, np link).

He ate what they ate, slept where they slept and took a bath where they did … (Source: @emmanuel9707 2023, np link).

… rather than retreating to a hotel room at the end of the day (Source: FluffyPillowstone 2017, np link).

[H]e shows compassion and participates in the same labour that the interviewees go through, rather than stepping back and observing in a clinical way (Source: FluffyPillowstone 2017, np link).

The journey of the scrap VCRs, by foot, is an example of where the documentary shines. The 3 musketeers [the burner boys he gets to know] do not remain ‘props’, and are not nameless faceless viet cong in this BBC production.  Though he has no Dagbani translator, [he] deserves credit for listening, as best he can, to the individuals who make the fires (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

[Reggie] Yates [is] a presenter with a significant cultural connection to the country and the people in the documentary (just look at that handshake) (Source: FluffyPillowstone 2017, np link).

You learn that handshake within a week of coming to Ghana. Everyone does it, rich and poor (Source: rugbroed 2017, np link).

Increasingly, investigators ([like Reggie] Yates …) make their own [Britiah-Ghanain] bi-nationalism front-and-center of their reports.  It appears an evolutionary reaction to Hollywood’s #whitesaviorcomplex. But it also forces the investigator to meet a broader range of African experts – scrap sector, tech sector, importers and regulators – to gain personal credentials (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

When a reporter’s name or face features prominently in a story, it too often stops being journalism, and becomes a kind of talking-head on reality-tv. [Reggie] Yates remains seduced by his role in the lives of ‘the boys’, and while he obviously means well, a great deal of footage is wasted on him demonstrating just that. … Like tire fires, journalism can be a testosterone high (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

I think what’s cool is that he’s used his celebrity to put himself into these situations to bring awareness to the marginalised (Source: Deux_Pep 2017, np link)!

The [burner boys in the film] told me this morning that Reggie was cool (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

My young brother you have a big heart (Source: @laibonmbatian378 2023, np link)!

Thanks Reggie for keeping it real 👍👌🤞🙏 (Source: @filmania 2023, np link).

Breaks my heart to see this. It needed to be reported so big thank you. I have really good friends from Ghana, fantastic people, always happy no matter what (Source: @rafael2499 2023, np link).

I grew up very poor in Nigeria and I can relate to this experience. It’s good to show the world that there are people out there busting their chops daily just to survive for another day (Source: @martinapelayo1270 2023, np link).

This documentary brought tears to my eyes! I was born in Kenya and now reside in New York City for the last 47 years so I can relate but I thought Kibera and Makoko in Nigeria were the worst (Source: @laibonmbatian378 2023, np link)!

[Agbogbloshie] reshaped my life when I wrote my BECE [the Basic Education Certificate Exam taken by junior seconary students in Ghana & Nigeria] in 2012, Alhamdulillah I’m now a graduate with a bachelor of science in Food Science & Technology. Thank you for that beautiful documentary Sir. Some of the students who are from the North [of Ghana] are there hustling just to further their education❤️🙏 (Source:@AbukariYussif-p8i 2023, np link).

Thank you, Reggie, for visiting my hood. I was born in this hood, and I grew up there, too. I know all the corners of all the places that are shown in this documentary. It was a great documentary, bdw. I am in the university now, and it is a part of my dreams to make this place better for all who live there❤️ (Source: @mis_majambe 2023, np link).

What do you study? How do you propose to achieve that end (Source: @othellosson1621 2023, np link)?

Just stop. This is a slum (Source: @nonino1644 2023, np link).

How much for a 1 bdrm there (Source: [deleted]a 2017, np link)?

With or without an LCD TV (Source: king_of_birs 2017, np link)?

with or without the components from 2000 lcd TVs (Source: coach11111 2017, np link)?

‘[Yaro] shouldn’t have to work under these conditions just in order to feed his wife and children …….. and mistress.’ That observation by [Reggie] the narrator was my favorite part (Source: dipdipbeantot 2017, np link)?

Lmao I chuckled when he added mistress (Source: lauren_marie23 2017, np link)?

[Reggie says to Yaro’s boss:] ‘it’s always you bloody Nigerians” [I] can’t believe he was that candid with his opinions. The burner guy he was with looked seriously uncomfortable. I hope that didn’t hold any consequences for him (Source: mimidaler 2017, np link).

a big part of why you as ‘westerners’ dont understand the plight if our people is because of cultural differences… for you, if the narrative had said family, you’d suddenly understand… smh 🙁 (Source: eyekahhe808 2017, np link).

A mistress gotta eat (Source: [deleted]b 2017, np link)?

I like to joke and troll about fu*ked up things but this is just sad 🙁 (Source: masslockedmafia 2017, np link).

Jesus Christ.. this world is unfair (Source: krejcii 2017, np link).

Correct me if I’m wrong, but they are choosing to live here, aren’t they (Source: [deleted]c 2017, np link)?

You can’t help where you are born (Source: @bigwhitewill4974 2023, np link).

[It] can determine what you’re in for (Source: krejcii 2017, np link).

Be careful who you look down on, you could one day be in a worse position (Source: @bigwhitewill4974 2023, np link)!!

For all the good there is in the world, sometimes I really despise us as a species. As cliched as it sounds, I really do worry about the world we’re leaving for my/our kids (Source: Daedalus_7777 2017, np link).

Hopefully as we become more aware of these issues more people get up and stand for what’s right & help fix it (Source: krejcii 2017, np link).

Such a throwaway mindset most of us have. Makes me feel selfish for all the frivolous sh*t I buy. Hoping this makes me rethink future decisions and true recycling options (Source: CardboardMice 2017, np link).

Most peoples reaction. ‘Fu*k that’s terrible’ then they buy a new phone every 12 months (Source: [deleted]d 2017, np link).

I vowed to hold onto my e-goods for the long run (Source: Willis 2018, np link).

I’ve had mine for three years. Still works great. I don’t replace it till it breaks.. and even then, only if I can’t fix it (Source: Crustypeanut 2017, np link).

I had a small stack of broken computers and old electronic waste. I never threw any of it away because I knew the likely destination would be a dump like the one shown in the doc. For a while I had aspirations to one day build a small brick smelter and retrieve the precious metals to turn into tiny ingots or jewellery, but I knew it would never happen. Clean air laws, personal safery, no actual plan for how to become technically adept in metalworking without it taking over my whole life. All were practical obstructions, and fair. Eventually I had to accept that I couldn’t drag it all around forever, from move to move, but the wastefulness tormented me for a while (Source: WodensBeard 2017, np link).

The only e-waste I’ve been able to find a practical use for is laptop batteries. 18650 cells are relatively easy to harvest from junk laptops and can be useful in a lot of consumer electronics or hobby projects (Source: loimprevisto 2017, np link).

As a [UK-based] WEEE recycling company proud to process equipment here in the UK, the documentary really hit home with us. This problem was reported on in depth years ago, so it’s shocking to see the trade still goes on and reiterated the importance of our recycling process. This documentary is essential viewing to understand that the problem of illegal WEEE dumping is a global one, and the solution starts at home (Source: Pure Planet Recycling 2017, np link).

In composing your ‘takeaway’, please do not advocate for those who insist that … boycotting emerging markets does something compassionate. You can push the button on the shredder yourself, but you haven’t done anything to improve anyone’s lives. You probably made them worse (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

[Sp w]here do you even begin with this – I’m sat here writing this on a mobile phone that, for all I know, will end up where those guys are existing (Source: Daedalus_7777 2017, np link).

The thing is that at this point of capitalism you can’t cross the street without making use of something that involved human exploitation. You can try to avoid the worst (i.e. buying more carefully), but then you pay taxes, charge your phone, etc. and already entered into the opaque system again. How to change significantly (Source: mamertus 2017, np link)?

For all you know, your phone was built under sub-par conditions for the workers that made it. Probably under a**hole managers who are pressured by a**hole factory owners, who are pressured by a**hole CEOs who want that phone out yesterday (Source: i_Got_Rocks 2017, np link).

But dey put up dem suzycide nets [see our page on the ‘iPad suicides’ here] (Source: WeakStreamZ 2017, np link).

[And] the sub-par conditions change by origin. Chinese production workers are actually paid much more by way of low level purchasing power, [but] hours and secondary safety suck balls. Americans top secondary safety (primary is still garbage) at the expense of wages and rights (Source: Doctor0000 2017, np link).

[And it’s n]ot just the manufacturers. Cobalt is used in batteries and circuit boards, most of it is mined in Congo under terrible conditions (Source: Professional_Bob, np link).

Humanity is a rainbow of suffering (Source: Doctor0000 2017, np link).

I’d argue that there has never been a day in which the prosperity of developed countries didn’t depend on exploitation, either of foreigners or locals, especially if you factor surplus-value in. The super-exploitation of early capitalism never went away, it just changed countries (Source: NilesCaulder 2017, np link).

Welcome to the free market (Source: HauntedJackInTheBox 2017, np link).

Seize the means of production (Source: hyasbawlz 2017, np link).

And I’m here not allowed to drink with plastic straws 😂 (Source: @shaclo1512 2023, np link).

[It’s p]retty crazy to be watching a doc filmed in the third world and then seeing one of the kids wearing a Buffalo World Junior Championship hat. A hat that I have and see around buffalo. Damn [see our page on the documentary T-Shirt Travels to understand the supply chain of clothing waste] (Source: BuffaloStoner 2017, np link).

As a United States citizen who is not immune to complaining about my good life; this is truly humbling. Thanks for making this ❤️ (Source: @babablacksheep8019 2025, np link).

I feel bad for the denizens of Ghana that we the modernized people are dumping waste into such a peaceful place and turned it into shit (Source: Valence00 2017, np link).

If this kind of environmental degradation could be allowed here in the US it would be everywhere (Source: channeltwelve 2017, np link).

This is the most touching, humanizing and also entertaining videos I’ve seen in a while. Great job (Source: @glenmchargue5461 2023, np link).

It is touching, but remember they are third world. Your beliefs may contradict (Source: @stravis3269 2023, np link).

That is not exclusive to first against third world countries. Ever heard of politics (Source: @CulturexHardcore 2023, np link)?

Presenting Agbogbloshie’s problems as the result of the illegal dumping of e-waste from rich countries creates a particular scenario in which only binaries are presented, such as the rich versus poor and exploiting versus exploited. Such stories often ignore Ghana’s domestic ICT market, which played a central role in its economic development, and produce solutions, such as mechanization (cable-stripping machines…) and industrialization, without considering global entanglements. For example, understanding why young men at Agbogbloshie still prefer burning the cables, while cable-stripping machines are available, is a complex story in which there are no clear perpetrators and victims. … I implemented fieldwork [here] on repair and recycling as part of my research on the life cycle of mobile phones. … I talked with several of the young men burning cables. Their daily earnings are so low, depending on the price the middlemen are willing to pay, that they don’t want to spend any money on electricity for running the machine. They also mention that operating the machine takes time; time they prefer to spend on collecting cables. Observing their work, I noticed they used plastic components from e-waste and insulation from old fridges as fuel for the fires. It takes about a minute to burn a kilo of cables (Source: van Der Velden 2018, p.11 & 12).

Agbogbloshie workers are a living, breathing part of the Circular Economy.  And that circle does not revolve around Europe.  … the used goods may disappear into reuse for decades, all the copper and circuitboards eventually get purchased and re-enter the world economy (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

Shippers (sender) get rid of trashes with relatively small amount. Container ship operators gets paid by moving them. Compared to fresh fruits and high end goods, trash pays small but it’s better than moving empty containers anyway. Truckers / Terminal workers also getting paid picking up & dropping them. Consignee (receiver) will invoice shipper later for accepting trashes. Some of raw meterials will be exported to Asia, Latin America then consumed for completed product. These product will be exported to US. People use new stuff now, it’s newer and cheaper to buy whole new stuff than fix old ones. Old stuff getting dumped again. This is a sad cycle man (Source: KoreanBard 2017, np link).

Recycling is good (Source: [deleted]e 2017, np link)!

[So, t]o the people who have a lot of money, build a recycling factory there, there are so many recyclable materials (Source: @alfshumway5189 2025, np link)!!!

They just need a huge recycling center to do the burning for them, and pay them for the material. Who wants to move over and get started on this with me? hehe (Source: iheartbaconsalt 2017, np link).

Doesn’t burning it just push heavy metals downwind to the next country (Source: sivsta 2017, np link)?

Not always. There are devices and filters called scrubbers that can capture and retain toxic gases and heavy metals that are commonly used in industry. Also catalytic converters help but don’t solve the problem completely. Either way it hurts me to see the clouds of black smoke these guys are in every day (Source: [deleted]f 2017, np link)?

They could use a gasifier to filter the smoke, and make fuel to sell. I would make one here in Hawaii but the state is preventing me from doing this. Maybe I should move to Ghana (Source: @QQUU-xt6fg 2023, np link).

That doesn’t work with all plastics (Source: @kevfit4333 2023, np link).

[This equipment] is typically expensive to install. Africa is probably the last place to get these. I love the technology though (Source: sivsta 2017, np link).

Scrubbers still produce liquid toxic waste that without an entire disposal industry to properly dispose of it just end up in their drinking water or down the river (Source: IriquoisP 2017, np link).

If there were any catalytic converters around, I could see them getting scrapped fairly quickly by these burner boys for the platinum they would likely contain (Source: 2infinity_andbeyond 2017, np link).

There have been lots of efforts to establish recycling plants and other facilities that can process the material safely. The problem is that [the burner boys’] way is more profitable. This line of work is actually a lot more profitable than a lot of alternatives (Source: rugbroed 2017, np link).

Unfortunately, [recycling plant employees are] working for cents an hour. Nobody wants to build a plant there to process the materials. It would take decades, maybe even a century, to make any profit. And furthermore, it’s worse for these people for there to be a recycling plant. These people offer a service. The ‘burner boys’ aren’t the ones with the copper. Their job is burning copper. That’s what they’re ‘contracted’ to do. Someone comes along, and pays them money to burn the plastic off the copper wiring. They then give the copper back to the person who originally owned it, and are paid for what they did. They sometimes accept copper instead of money, so they can sell the copper itself. Are you seeing the problem here yet? By adding a recycling plant, the plant itself is doing the job of the burner boys. So the impoverished people who are forced to work as burner boys have their job taken away by the recycling plant. What really needs to happen is some kind of humanitarian effort to teach these people how to do this job safely, and even donate safety supplies to them, while giving them an education so they can move on to a better job. A recycling plant can be built when there’s no longer any poor people who need to do the job to put food on the table (Source: Why-so-delirious 2017, np link).

[What the burner boys do] is so labor intensive and environmentally destructive. But everyone has to realize that: [a] Any effeciencies created, via new processes or new equipment, would put people out of work. Yaro’s gang builds a smelter, now they could do more work in less time. They’d probably put their small copper burning competition out of business, and there may be some additional training needed for workers they start to hire, but the barrier to entry would be slightly increased for northern farmers. [b] A few other gangs also build smelters, so the government would get involved and start regulating the process to improve work safety and air quality, requiring more formal equipment, formalized processing, and would necessitate more formal supply chains. Safety standards would also necessitate additional worker training, creating a slightly higher skills competition of employees. Northern farmers may no longer just be able to walk into the factory floor. This would also encourage consolidation of suppliers, generate receipts, require a paved road, freight truck licensing, and all of a sudden, a high level of import scrutiny… [c] With a formalized supply chain, additional review and regulations of imports would be created. New international trade agreements negotiated on waste importation would formalize e waste sales, taxations on imports, and the smelter gang would lobby for additional tax benefits. Yaro, the head of the Accra Smelting Corporation runs for a political position on an e-waste tariff, discouraging the export of Ghana’s e waste to the Congo, where it’s cheaper and has less regulation. [d] Finally, ask yourself, why did everyone move from the north to Accra to burn garbage? They consciously moved to Accra for opportunities not available in the north of the country … Not what they wanted but as a ladder for earning income, saving, and improving their children’s lives (Source: bummer_lazarus 2017, np link).

Hardly. They will die in their 20s and their children will likely do the same. The opportunity is to eek out a living just long enough to continue the cycle. This is not acceptable of the human condition (Source: Rookwood 2017, np link).

You come up with all these problems. How about the fact that it is Western capitalists that profit from these electronics and contribute nothing to their recycling? Show me the economics of suffering and I will show you the economics of someone that transferred that suffering to them (Source: Rookwood 2017, np link).

I don’t think what I’ve put up there are problems, just a natural process. I also don’t think the term ‘western capitalists’ captures the complex nuances of our global, intertwined society. And it’s wrong and too simple to blame these health- and environment-damaging acts as a necessary part of ‘western capitalism’, or even more broadly on greed, for that matter. That allows us to blame it on others: the government, the corporate pigs, neo-liberals, the Illuminati, or whatever. The fact is, there is no one guiding this ship. Rather, it’s a path of least resistance, which is probably the most human condition ever. It means that everyone is culpable, that everyone receives bits of ‘micro blames’ for all of the little acts we don’t give a thought to. That’s not capitalism, that’s just normal, plain old human, flowing on a path of least resistance. Literally everyone on this e-waste chain is profiting; yes, they profit in vastly different amounts, but Yaro made money for burning rubber off of copper wire. He made money with literally no skills, his tools a metal rod, a lighter, and a puddle of water. You’re upset with his compensation. So what do you suggest, is a good-paying job that requires zero educational attainment? Should he and his burners all unionize, negotiate a 5p annual increase (tied to inflation, of course) from their metal suppliers? Yes I agree, e-waste should be handled locally – all waste should be processed where it’s created. So now that that’s fixed, what does Yaro labor for, why does he emigrate from the north, moving to the big city for opportunity, so his daughter can receive a Jr-high level education instead of being turned-away from the backwards all-boys school in the Sahil? Whether you like it or not, these were the jobs that were done previously in India, and before that, in China, and before that, in Poland, and before that, in Japan, and before that, in South Carolina, and before that, in New York, and before that, in Manchester… it wasn’t always e waste, but it was just another form of dangerous and low-paying labor, for poor farmers who were sick of popping out seven kids and praying to a God in the sky that it rained. The West has been trading GDP growth to the developing world since the 1950’s. Every year for example, 0.5% more gets traded, from a slightly wealthier country to a less wealthier one. It’s the reason that Brexit happened [in the UK], that Trump got elected [in the USA], that the AfD is in Parliament [in Germany]. The middle class in the west have seen their real growth nearly come to a stand still, as that economic growth is redistributed across the globe. Sub-Saharan Africa had GDP growth double that of the west. You are watching ‘western capitalism’ literally redistribute growth to developing nations, at the expense of growth in the west, and boy are they starting to get mad that it’s starting to become black and brown people’s turn. Just remember, for every Yaro, there is a daughter that gets educated, and she waits a little longer to have children, and then she only has two, and those two daughters make it through college, and then wait even longer to have children, and then only have one each (Source: bummer_lazarus 2017, np link).

You just claimed that because societies had jobs & occupations in the past that were dangerous and hazardous, that these people are in the exact position that they should be in. … You just said yourself that you’re thinking of them as lower than that even; that they don’t deserve our help or sympathy because ‘every society has gone through work they shouldn’t have gone through’. I really don’t think you even know what you’re arguing to be honest, your reasoning is just coming off as ignorant and idiotic (Source: Tyler_of_Township 2017, np link).

Geez, what’s it like to completely lack the ability to feel empathy? To look at someone extremely poor with a dangerous job and think ‘that’s just the way things are’? Someone clearly doesn’t want to examine critically the possibility that something can be done (Source: Sumptuous_Nog 2017, np link).

Obviously it’s always possible that there’s some sort of worse situation to be in. But seriously this is pretty fu*king horrible conditions to be living in (Source: [deleted]h 2017, np link).

[H]e’s the privileged western who can’t even sympathize with these people. As someone who is from a third world country his reasoning sounds really racist (Source: baban2000 2017, np link).

Surely there is enough trash on that dump to make a half decent smelter? Or at least something to contain the heat. Or maybe the UN could build a very manual labor intensive recycling plant to keep all these people employed that could be expanded using the material refined from the sight (Source: onsmidt 2017, np link)?

The UN isn’t in the business of those types of pragmatic solutions (Source: [deleted]g 2017, np link).

i like their resolutions, very nicely written, make for a good read (Source: CtrlAltTrump 2017, np link).

And thats about it (Source: _Life-is-Relative_ 2017, np link).

The [UN’s] Basel Convention should prevent faulty electricals from being exported (Source: Pure Planet Recycling 2017, np link).

[V]arious products clearly labelled with UK brand names [like Sainsbury’s and Currys make it] … clear there’s a black-market trade that must be addressed (Source: Pure Planet Recycling 2017, np link).

[But] it is irksome … [that] Reggie Yates gets his information about [the] Basel Convention from quite discredited claims from 5+ years ago …  [and] displays no evidence of reading research funded by Secretariat of Basel Convention, Interpol, MIT, Memorial University, and others who investigated – and dispelled with prejudice – the original Basel Action Network propaganda (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

Agbogbloshie acquired [its] troubled reputation due to the work of the Basel Action Network and Greenpeace on global e-waste trafficking, and a related uptick from 2008 in investigative reports that ensured its reputation as the world’s ‘electronics graveyard’ … . These findings have since been contested by journalists and social scientists, who note that the figures used to describe Agbogbloshie as the largest e-waste dump in the world are based on one statistic, which ‘can be traced back to a report by NGO ‘the Basel Action Network’ which comes from a conversation with a single individual in Lagos who offered it as an off-the-cuff estimate’ (Source: De Loughry 2022, p.2 link).

[Reggie’s] producers could have contacted some of the experienced reporters … and researchers … who have dispelled most of the hysteria about ‘hundreds of sea containers’ being dumped and ‘pawed through’ by ‘thousands of orphans’ (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

The only African Tech Sector representative appears in the video when Awal takes [Reggie] Yates to buy scrap from an imported goods shop.  The (unnamed) secondhand shopkeeper tells Reggie they are not importing ‘waste’ or ‘scrap’. Study after study has proved the shopkeeper is, for the most part, correct.  Importers cannot afford to import junk, and they don’t.  They fly and inspect goods, they will sample store returns to see if it’s an easy repair. The cost of shipping from the UK is about $5,000 and they certainly don’t import VCRs. … Reuse shops did import VCRs 10-30 years ago, used.  But today, Ghana residents bring them in for repair or exchange for something newer, a laptop or cell phone perhaps, leaving them at the secondhand shops. Yates does find a [Curry’s] UK store return at the shop and raises his eyebrows. I’ve seen imported recalls, perhaps the one he saw in the shop.  But they are usually purchased and tested in the UK. Yates doesn’t plug it in, or find out how representative the sample is (this is photojournalism not data-journalism).  Certainly he can see that the shopkeeper isn’t selling it for scrap, and that it’s too expensive for Awal to buy for scrap, and stuff he sees at the junkyard is much older… nothing adds up. Awal buys the scrap VCRs, not the store return. In any case, I challenge anyone to find enough ‘bad goods’ in Accra shops to fill the Agbogbloshie they describe. Yates implies it’s evidence of controversial import of bad goods. This ‘tidy little shop’ isn’t newsworthy… but Yates handling of Awal’s negotiation gives us another glimpse of the reporter as protagonist (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

The film does capture a lot of junk at the scrapyard … that comes from African Consumers, living African lives, in African cities. … African consumers have been ‘consuming’ electronics since at least the 1980s … We can see with our own eyes that even the lowest scrapper has a TV set in his room. … Reggie hasn’t quite made the case that Agbogbloshie is anything but a city junkyard, similar to one in Essex or Dublin or Marseille, but with lower wages, more smoke, and lesser tools. And I think if he sits and has a beer with me in a year or two, he’ll agree the situation is kinda ordinary (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

[Despte these inaccuracies, this documentary, is] worth watching because, at least for ‘e-waste’, yes, this really is it. The 7 days Yates spends there pretty much capture the entire Agbo[gbloshie] e-waste scene.  You can watch this whole thing and pretty much know everything (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

Aside from the ethical / economic / environmental issues this film raises, which are both fascinating and horrifying, I have to say this documentary is really well made (Source: FluffyPillowstone 2017, np link).

This video is top quality (Source: @nopenope5626 2023, np link).

This is an Oscar documentary (Source: @laibonmbatian378 2023, np link)!

How TF does this only have 6.9k thumbs up (Source: @nopenope5626 2023, np link)?

The music is subtle and tasteful, and doesn’t overshadow the narrative. It’s not pretentious and it doesn’t try to cater to a particular demographic (Source: FluffyPillowstone 2017, np link).

The camera work on the ground an in the air is also excellent. The drone shots were effective at showing the expanse of the slum and the toxic waste. And I particularly liked [the] shot of a father gently removing his little daughter’s shoes as he puts her to bed, illustrating beautifully how these men work to support their families (Source: FluffyPillowstone 2017, np link).

But why the photoshopped birds? … The random birds that just show up while they are showing video from the air, when at no point do you see those birds flying around while he’s walking. Plus there were a few that literally just showed up out of nowhere. Those birds look very out of place and fake. But this whole documentary was amazing. I just think they added some things for effect (Source: FruitLoop4Life 2017, np link).

The images and narrative in the doc all say the same over and over again. This would have held up as a mini doc at 15 min but at 50min – it falls apart without much of anything but plain observations with minimal revelations or then higher bigger picture, toll or the exploration of big and small issues. Narrator is mostly shocked but doesn’t seem to be educated and well versed at the adversities and political climate of Ghana and world issues that have led to this (Source: DoubleBrother 2017, np link).

Wow, nice to see an updated doc on this (Source: iheartbaconsalt 2017, np link).

This documentary will change everything (Source: [deleted]d 2017, np link).

Not sure if [this is] sarcasm, but I’ve seen a couple comments highlighting the fact that this is one of many documentaries over the years about the area and it seems nothing has really changed (Source: [deleted]e 2017, np link).

[I]t looks exactly as it did in every previous doc (Source: iheartbaconsalt 2017, np link).

Yeah, sadly it was sarcasm. I’m deeply cynical (Source: [deleted]d 2017, np link).

Reggie, please do more documentaries. Your style is so refreshing and genuine (Source: @filmania 2023, np link).

Hope you can come back and give us an update and hope the boys will find a better alternative to earn their living.. they deserve it (Source: @anrakalejandro7361 2023, np link).

[Reggie] should demand a follow up.  We can arrange for him to visit laptop repair shops and other importers, without whom Accra would never have had the ‘critical mass of users’ to invest in cell phone towers, internet cable, etc.  I usually go to Agbogbloshie with savvy tech sector workers from Tamale, who translate the Dagbani language with Razak, Awal, Yahro, Muhammed etc. (Source: Robin 2017, np link).

[But p]ls wear a mask next time though (Source: @martinapelayo1270 2023, np link).

Didn’t this place get washed away from a flood (Source: @lianefehrle9921 2024, np link)?

What’s the motivation for [the Best Documentary channel on YouTube] posting a [2017] video [in 2023 and 2024] of a scrap site that was demolished and flattened a couple of years ago (Source: @Kodwo1 2023, np link)?

The local news there for Ghana showed them dismantling [Agbogbloshie] last year, and they go back to make sure no one’s making it like this anymore (Source: @Lizzzz90 2023, np link).

[I] am not sure that anyone cares about anything anymore. I mean, fu*k, we just elected Trump (Source: [deleted]g 2017, np link).

[I]t’s really easy just to forget about everything and just live your own life (Source: mamertus 2017, np link)

I was affected by being there and my connection to the land from being of Ghanian decent I’ve started the ball rolling on a campaign to bring about change. It’s not something I feel the need to shout about here because I’m not doing it for promotion, I’m doing it out of personal responsibility as a Ghanaian [in] the position that I’m in (Source: Yates in Fault Magazine 2017, np link).

This was eye opening for me. Today I found out I need to replace my charge port or get a new phone. Guess who just decided to fix her phone instead of replacing it (Source: CardboardMice 2017, np link)?

If you’re into chemistry there are a bunch of YouTube videos on recycling gold, copper from e-waste. Haven’t sat down and watched them myself yet, but after seeing this i may (Source: Doctor0000 2017, np link).