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Agbogbloshie is a former wetland and suburb of Accra, Ghana known as a destination for locally generated used electronics from the City of Accra. It has been alleged to be at the center of a legal and illegal exportation network for the environmental dumping of electronic waste (e-waste) from industrialized nations. Basel Action Network, a small NGO based in Seattle, has referred to as a "digital dumping ground", where they allege millions of tons of e-waste are processed each year in Agbogbloshie.〔〔("Africa’s Agbogbloshie Market Is a Computer Graveyard" ) NewsBreakingOnline.com. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.〕 However, repeated international studies have failed to confirm the allegations, which has been labelled an "e-waste hoax" by international reuse advocate WR3A. The most exhaustive study of the trade in used electronics, funded by UNEP and Basel Convention (Ghanaian E-Waste Assessment and Nigerian E-Waste Assessment) revealed that of 261 sea containers of electronics assessed at African ports, 91% of the material was reused. According to statistics from the World Bank, in large cities like Accra and Lagos the majority of households have owned television and computers for decades. The UN Report "Where are WEEE in Africa" 2012 disclosed that the majority of used electronics found in African dumps had not in fact been recently imported as scrap, but was generated by these African cities. The suburb of Accra covers approximately four acres and is situated on the banks of the Korle Lagoon, northwest of Accra's Central Business District. Roughly 40,000 Ghanaians inhabit the area, most of whom are migrants from rural areas.〔("Time up for Sodom and Gomorrah." ) Peace FM Online | Ghanaian News. 4 Sept. 2009. Web. 15 Mar. 2011.〕〔 Due to its harsh living conditions and rampant crime, the area is nicknamed "Sodom and Gomorrah". The Basel Convention prevents the transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries. However, the Convention specifically allows export for reuse and repair under Annex Ix, B1110. While numerous international press reports have made reference to allegations that the majority of exports to Ghana are dumped, research by the US International Trade Commission found little evidence of unprocessed junk being shipped to Africa, a finding corroborated by the UN Environmental Programme, MIT, Memorial University, Arizona State University, and other research. In 2013, the original source of the allegation blaming foreign dumping for the material found in Agbogbloshie recanted, or rather stated it had never made the claim. Whether domestically generated by residents of Ghana or imported, concern remains over methods of waste processing - especially burning - which emit toxic chemicals into the air, land and water. Exposure is especially hazardous to children, as these toxins are known to inhibit the development of the reproductive system, the nervous system, and especially the brain. Concerns about human health and the environment of Agbogbloshie continue to be raised as the area remains heavily polluted.〔〔("Poisoning the Poor – Electronic Waste in Ghana | Greenpeace International." ) Inspiring Action for a Green and Peaceful Future | Greenpeace USA. 5 Aug. 2008. Web. 15 Mar. 2011.〕〔Dogbevi, Emmanuel K. ("E-waste in Ghana – How Many Children Are Dying from Lead Poisoning?" ) Ghana Business News. 7 June 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011.〕 In the 2000s, the Ghanaian government, with new funding and loans, implemented the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP), an environmental remediation and restoration project that will address the pollution problem by dredging the lagoon and Odaw canal to improve drainage and flooding into the ocean. ==Background== In the 1960s, the slum area of Agbogbloshie was a wetland. As the city of Accra urbanized, a ghetto grew, referred to as Old Fadama or Ayaalolo.〔〔 During the 1980s, the ghetto was a place of shelter for refugees from the Kokomba and the Nanumba war.〔 In the late 1990s, electricity from the Akosombo Dam led to demand for electric and electronic appliance consumption. Critics claim that this caused an imbalanced shift.〔 As electricity from the Odaw dam increased, demand for functional second-hand televisions, and computers, were imported by Africa's Tech Sector, from the West, to help ‘bridge the digital divide’. Ghanaians welcomed these donations, because these computers cost 1/10th of a new one. Basel Action Network circulated a claim in 2008 that as much as 75 percent of these second hand electronics sent to Africa could not be reused and end up in landfills.〔〔Darko, Richmond. ("Electronic Waste Dumping on Ghana Still Continues." ) GhanaWeb. 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011.〕 The BAN allegation was slightly different from its 2002 claim of 80% waste (Exporting Harm, 2002) which became one of the most cited references in academic journals, though no documentation or peer reviewed source documentation has been made available. ("Mapping E-waste as a Controversy: From Statements to Debates II." ) BAN denied ever making the claim, or ever stating any statistic for African imports, in 2013. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Agbogbloshie」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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