Landmark e-waste policy brief exposes toxic dumping in Kenya and Ghana

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Waste-pickers in Kenya are paying a heavy price for an escalating e-waste crisis in Kenya.  Exposure to toxic chemicals released during unsafe handling of electronic waste, including open burning, acid leaching, and manual disassembly, has left 61% of waste pickers in Nairobi’s Korogocho settlement reporting health problems,  with nearly half suffering respiratory illness, and more than a third reporting skin infections. 

Kenya imports approximately 70% of its electronic equipment, much of which arrives near the end of its useful life. 

Speaking during the launch of a landmark policy brief and factsheet on the escalating e-waste crisis devastating communities in Kenya and Ghana, the environmental organisation warned that toxic electronic waste, often disguised as donations or recycling, is putting lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems at risk.

Hellen Kahaso Dena, Pan-African Plastics Project Lead at Greenpeace Africa, said:

“What we are witnessing is waste colonialism in action: wealthy countries offloading toxic burdens onto African communities under the guise of development and charity.  When only about 1% of e-waste is formally recycled,  the remainder is handled in informal settings where waste pickers, many of whom are from vulnerable groups, are exposed to dangerous substances such as lead, cadmium, and carcinogenic fumes of burning electronics.

Kenya generates approximately 51,000 metric tonnes of electronic waste annually, making e-waste the country’s fastest-growing waste stream,  yet only 1% is formally recycled. 

Surveys conducted in Nairobi’s Korogocho informal settlement paint a harrowing picture of the health toll on waste workers: 61% of respondents reported health issues from handling e-waste, with 47.2% reporting respiratory complications and 35.3% reporting skin damage or infections. Children as young as six years old are involved in sorting and burning e-waste to extract metals such as copper, silver, and aluminium, exposing them to carcinogenic fumes from toxins including lead, cadmium, beryllium, and furans.

“These are not abstract numbers. Behind every statistic is a mother, a child, a young man trying to earn a living by picking through the world’s discarded electronics with his bare hands. That is the human cost of our collective failure to manage this crisis.” Kahaso added, commenting on the scale of the health emergency facing informal workers.

On the need for bold government action, Kahaso said:

“Kenya and Ghana cannot continue to absorb the world’s discarded electronics while receiving none of the benefits. We are calling on both governments to enforce Extended Producer Responsibility regulations, formalise and protect informal waste workers, and work with customs to stop illegal e-waste shipments at the border. The solutions exist. What is missing is the political will.”

The launch, held at Alliance Française in Nairobi on the United Nations International Day of Zero Waste, brought together policymakers, civil society actors, researchers, and community representatives to confront what the organisation describes as a deepening crisis of waste colonialism – the systematic dumping of toxic electronic waste from wealthy nations onto African soil under the guise of donations or technological transfers.

The event also featured an immersive photojournalism exhibition by Kenyan photojournalist Edwin Nyamasyo, whose powerful images capture the human and environmental scale of the waste crisis as experienced by communities on the frontlines in Kenya and Ghana.

These images are not easy to look at, but they are far harder to live with. My work is to make sure no one can say they did not know,” said Edwin.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Agbogbloshie site, the world’s largest electronic waste dump, continues to receive hundreds of thousands of tonnes of e-waste, predominantly from Western Europe and the United States.

The crisis was significantly worsened following China’s 2017 ban on foreign waste imports, which redirected enormous quantities of plastic, textile, and electronic waste toward Africa. Much of this waste is mislabelled and shipped in violation of the Basel and Bamako Conventions, international agreements designed to prevent the transboundary movement of hazardous waste into Africa.

The policy brief sets out concrete recommendations to both the Kenyan and Ghanaian governments, including:

Strengthen policy and enforcement – Full implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, ensuring compliance by all electronics producers and importers, with incentives for eco-design and sustainable product life extension.

End waste colonialism  – Enforce the Basel and Bamako Conventions; require that all shipped used electronics be functional and destined for reuse, with any requiring hazardous processing handled in the exporting country.

Formalise and protect waste workers –  Recognise informal collectors as legitimate economic actors; provide safety training, personal protective equipment (PPE), and certification; establish fair buy-back and franchising models linking informal collectors with licensed recyclers.

Embed circular economy principles – Launch incentives for domestic repair and recycling businesses; promote “design-for-repair” standards; invest in vocational training for electronics refurbishment.

Expand collection infrastructure –  Establish accessible e-waste drop-off points in urban and rural areas; use digital platforms to coordinate pickups and track disposal flows.

Drive consumer awareness and behaviour change –  Run nationwide campaigns on safe e-waste disposal, data security in recycling, and environmental risks, with incentives for consumers to return old devices.

 Courtesy: www.greenpeace.org