Atlas of Contaminated Sites

Notable case, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana

Agbogbloshie

A scrap and e-waste yard on the Korle Lagoon in central Accra, where for years cables were burned in the open to recover their copper. It is the most cited case of informal e-waste recycling.

Status
Not addressed
People affected
50,000 (2014)1
Media
soil, air, surface water, living organisms
Kind of site
e-waste, illegal dumping
  1. People affected. Population affected according to Pure Earth's project page, including 10,000 children. Wikipedia gives about 40,000 inhabitants and nearly 80,000 people exposed in the area.

Contaminants

Metals

Metalloids

Organic compounds

Mixtures and waste

Status

Not addressed

In July 2021 the government of Ghana began demolishing and clearing the site; according to Wikipedia (read in 2026) workers returned in 2025. No soil clean-up is on record.

Story

Agbogbloshie stands on what was a wetland in the 1960s, on the Korle Lagoon at the mouth of the Odaw River. It grew into Ghana's largest scrap and e-waste recovery centre: equipment is taken apart by hand and cables are burned, often with old tyres as fuel, to free the copper from its plastic sheath. About 40,000 people live in the settlement, mostly migrants from rural areas.

Burning releases lead, mercury, arsenic, dioxins and furans, brominated flame retardants and PCBs. A Greenpeace report found concentrations in water and soil more than a hundred times above levels considered safe. In 2019 an egg from a free-range hen kept on the site contained chlorinated dioxins at 220 times the European Food Safety Authority's limit.

Pure Earth assessed the site in 2010 and from 2014, working with the scrap dealers' association and Ghana's environmental agency, installed wire-stripping machines and a granulator so that cables could be processed without burning. From 2017 German development cooperation (GIZ) added a training centre and a clinic. In July 2021 the government had the site demolished.

Timeline

  1. 2003The Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project begins (dredging, flood reduction).
  2. 2010Pure Earth assesses the site.
  3. 2014January: Pure Earth's pilot starts, with wire-stripping machines in place of burning.
  4. 2017German development cooperation (GIZ) begins its support.
  5. 2019Dioxins at 220 times the EFSA limit in a hen's egg from the site; GIZ opens a training facility and a clinic.
  6. 2021July: the government begins demolition and clearance.

Health

Wikipedia reports chronic nausea, headaches and respiratory problems among workers. Pure Earth estimates that its project averts 4,767 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs); no primary epidemiological studies were read.

Remediation

  1. 2014source controlRecycling centre with automated wire strippers and a granulator, run by trained workers, to replace cable burning (Pure Earth, 2014–2016).
  2. 2021demolition and clearanceDemolition and clearance of the yard by the government.

From the literature

Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.

Plants

Fungi

The rest are on the contaminant pages.

Nearby

Notable case, Ashanti Region, Ghana

Obuasi gold mine

176 km

  • Arsenic
  • Lead
  • Copper
  • Zinc

Phytoremediation

Sources

  1. Ghana (Agbogbloshie) – E-Waste Recycling, Pure Earth, 2014
  2. Agbogbloshie, Wikipedia, 2026

Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.