Olusosum Dump Site

People sift through rubbish at the Olusosum dump site. The site is government run by the agency Lagos Waste Management Authority ( LAWMA ) and is one of 6 sites taking in general waste from all over Lagos. E-waste is not allowed on site, but some does appear from the general waste collected. Local people are making a living out of selling their collections for recycling. Some of the people live on site, too poor to pay for accommodation elsewhere.

Containers

Shoot:

E-Waste Trail from UK to Africa

Greenpeace investigates illegal exports of electronic equipment from the United Kingdom to Africa, by tracking a TV-set originally delivered to a municipality-run collection point for discarded electronic products. The television was tracked and monitored by Greenpeace using a combination of GPS, GSM, and an onboard radiofrequency transmitter placed inside the TV-set. Using this sophisticated tracking equipment, Greenpeace was able to prove that rather than being recycled, it was being sent to Africa. Despite regulations which specify that electronic goods must be certified as working before it is exported, the television arrived in Lagos, Nigeria in container no 4629416, without any prior testing. Hampshire County Council and other municipalities have a duty to recycle all electronic equipment properly. Instead the electronic waste is clearly being exported to Africa, using a cheap and dirty disposal route.

Conceptually similar

Unique identifier: GP01QKJ

Type: Image

Shoot date: 16/11/2008

Locations: Africa, Lagos, Nigeria, Western Africa

Size: 5200px × 3467px 3.37 MB

Ranking: ★★★★ (E)