From the Frontlines of Life-Threatening Recycling — Agbogbloshie, and Beyond
Vol.9⁻Introduction: Is Recycling Always “Good”?
The word “recycling” often brings us a sense of reassurance.
We separate our used products, confident they’ll be repurposed into valuable resources—almost as if our consumption has been transformed into something good.
But from the perspective of the circular economy, there is a deeper, often overlooked reality.
One of the starkest examples lies in Agbogbloshie, Ghana—a place where mountains of electronic waste (e-waste) from developed nations continue to erode the health and lives of its people.
Black Smoke and a Life-Shortening Workplace
Agbogbloshie is one of the world’s largest e-waste dumps.
Smartphones, computers, TVs, refrigerators—what may look like ordinary discarded electronics are loaded with hazardous substances: lead, cadmium, mercury, brominated flame retardants, and more.
Here, the workforce is made up of children, youth, pregnant women, and migrant laborers.
With no protective gear, they dismantle circuit boards and cables by hand, setting them alight to recover copper, working amid thick black smoke.
Daily exposure leads to respiratory illnesses, skin diseases, constant cuts and burns—and death is not uncommon.
In this environment, the only way to extract value is by burning—making “life-shortening recycling” an everyday reality.
Still Usable, So Why Was It Thrown Away?
Another truth we can’t ignore: much of this waste was not “worn out” but still functional when discarded.
- Smartphones replaced with every new model release
- Appliances with spare parts discontinued within a few years, making repairs impractical
- Computers and tablets designed to be hard or impossible to dismantle
This is planned obsolescence—products deliberately designed for short lifespans.
It’s not that users can’t use them any longer; the design itself leaves no choice but to dispose of them.
And this design logic fuels the creation of dangerous jobs where people risk their lives to process our waste.
Why Doesn’t This System Change?
Much of this e-waste is exported from developed countries under the label of “for recycling.”
Although international frameworks like the Basel Convention exist, loopholes—such as labeling items as “used” or “repairable”—allow shipments to continue.
In receiving countries like Ghana, proper processing facilities and regulatory systems are lacking. Yet the waste flows in, driven by:
- Externalizing disposal costs: shifting expensive waste management overseas
- Cheap labor: easily exploited informal workers
- Psychological distance: if it’s far away, it feels less like our responsibility
This isn’t just waste export—it’s responsibility export.
The Circular Economy’s Deeper Question
The circular economy isn’t simply about encouraging reuse or recycling—it’s about eliminating the assumption of disposal altogether.
It’s about designing products for longevity, disassembly, repair, and safe material recovery—so that life-threatening waste work becomes unnecessary.
Examples include:
- Right to Repair: products designed for easy repair and disassembly
- Modular design: replaceable components (e.g., Fairphone)
- Non-toxic material selection: e.g., Cradle to Cradle certification
- Digital Product Passports (DPP): transparent material and recycling information
These are not just choices about where to make products or who will process them—they’re about how and why we make them in the first place.
Conclusion: Should Progress Be Built on Sacrifice?
The smartphones, laptops, and appliances in our homes today may someday be “disposed of” at the cost of someone else’s health—or life.
Yet this is a risk that could have been avoided.
By changing how we design, distribute, and consume, we can build a future where no one has to sacrifice their life to handle our waste.
The circular economy is not just an environmental or technological idea—it is a call to ask:
“Can we create and retire products ethically?”
The answer depends on the design philosophy we choose today.