EPA Builds Staff Capacity for E-Waste Data Collection Exercise

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to undertake a national electronic waste (E-waste) inventory exercise in October, to assess the impact of e-waste in the country.

Scheduled to be a countrywide situation analysis on electronic waste, it is intended to help understand it by origin and type, trade routes and hubs, as well as a review of major toxic pollutants.        

E-waste is one of the challenging bi-products of accelerated development and progress of digitisation as the market for electrical and electronic equipment grow steadily.

A number of reports on research indicate that in Ghana, the demand for computers and accessories, in particular, is phenomenal as a result of increasing electronic literacy.

 Each year, large consignments of electronic and electric equipment, discarded mainly in Europe and North America, find their way into Ghana and are patronised by those who cannot afford to buy new gadgets and this has turned Ghana into a popular dumping ground for old electronics.

The e-waste challenge has grave adverse implications on health and the environment thus the inventory is intended to help assess the environmental, health, social, economic implications of e-waste on the economy while assessing the dimension of the sector, including the different value-chains and their employment level, among others. 

 Courtesy: www.graphic.com.gh