- 1/9/2024
El vertedero de Agbogbloshie, ubicado en Acra, Ghana, se ha convertido en uno de los lugares más tóxicos del planeta debido a la acumulación de residuos electrónicos. Este vertedero no solo representa un grave problema medioambiental, sino que también afecta la salud de las comunidades que dependen de él para su subsistencia. Cada día, hombres, mujeres y niños llegan a Agbogbloshie para desmantelar dispositivos electrónicos, exponiéndose a materiales peligrosos como plomo, mercurio y cadmio, cuyos efectos nocivos pueden ser devastadores.
La falta de regulaciones adecuadas sobre la gestión de desechos y la creciente obsolescencia de la tecnología han hecho que el vertedero de Agbogbloshie se convierta en un símbolo de la crisis de residuos electrónicos a nivel mundial. Los análisis muestran que el aire y el suelo en esta área están contaminados, lo que resulta en enfermedades crónicas y problemas de desarrollo en la población local.
Es crucial tomar conciencia sobre esta realidad y entender el impacto global de nuestros hábitos de consumo. A través de iniciativas de reciclaje responsable y campañas educativas, podemos contribuir a la reducción de residuos electrónicos y mejorar las condiciones en lugares como Agbogbloshie. Es fundamental exigir soluciones sostenibles que protejan tanto a las personas como al medio ambiente.
Hashtags: #Agbogbloshie, #ResiduosElectrónicos, #CrisisEcológica
Mejores Keywords: Agbogbloshie, Ghana, residuos electrónicos, reciclaje responsable, contaminación, salud, crisis medioambiental, tecnología, sostenibilidad, economía circular.
La falta de regulaciones adecuadas sobre la gestión de desechos y la creciente obsolescencia de la tecnología han hecho que el vertedero de Agbogbloshie se convierta en un símbolo de la crisis de residuos electrónicos a nivel mundial. Los análisis muestran que el aire y el suelo en esta área están contaminados, lo que resulta en enfermedades crónicas y problemas de desarrollo en la población local.
Es crucial tomar conciencia sobre esta realidad y entender el impacto global de nuestros hábitos de consumo. A través de iniciativas de reciclaje responsable y campañas educativas, podemos contribuir a la reducción de residuos electrónicos y mejorar las condiciones en lugares como Agbogbloshie. Es fundamental exigir soluciones sostenibles que protejan tanto a las personas como al medio ambiente.
Hashtags: #Agbogbloshie, #ResiduosElectrónicos, #CrisisEcológica
Mejores Keywords: Agbogbloshie, Ghana, residuos electrónicos, reciclaje responsable, contaminación, salud, crisis medioambiental, tecnología, sostenibilidad, economía circular.
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00:30The poor people of Africa should not be responsible for the garbage of Europe and America.
00:36We belong to a global community.
00:39Governments cannot allow this waste to be transported to poor countries like the Africans.
00:50It is a deliberate attempt by the West to get rid of their obsolete technologies
00:56and their toxic materials, bringing them to Africa,
00:59because they think it is more expensive to find a solution in developed countries.
01:04And I get really angry, because if the garbage, electronic, is dangerous,
01:09someone has to pay for its management.
01:12If you don't know what to do with some waste, it is not fair that you give it to someone else.
01:18I mean, you can take a look at it, and you can see that about 70% of those affected
01:24by the activities of electronic waste are women and children,
01:28that is, most of the people who come here.
01:32Some of them have nothing to do with electronic waste.
01:36But we have to start thinking seriously about the issue,
01:40so that one day, the next generation,
01:43I cannot say that the West has been exterminating developing countries.
01:48We cannot tolerate that situations like this continue to happen.
01:59We are at the Akbogblossy landfill, in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
02:05Next to Chernobyl, it is considered one of the most toxic places on the planet.
02:12Here, men, women and children come to work to dismantle our electronic waste
02:18and try to rescue the valuable materials that enclose the devices that we throw.
02:24It is a toxic and harmful process, both for people and for the environment.
02:30As the rate of production and deterioration of electronic devices accelerates,
02:36year after year, more and more of these informal waste dumps emerge all over the world.
02:42They are the face of the growing crisis of electronic waste.
02:48Ghana imports large quantities of second-hand electronic products.
02:53The last study that has been carried out on this subject
02:57indicates that 70% of all electronic and electrical equipment imports are second-hand.
03:03So, we have to start thinking about how we are going to protect the environment,
03:08how we are going to protect the environment,
03:11how we are going to protect the environment,
03:14because the amount of electronic and electrical equipment is second-hand.
03:19That's already huge.
03:21But even within that 70%, almost 20% is pure garbage.
03:27And this is what is going to stop waste dumps like the one in Agbog Blosi,
03:32where they are subjected to different processes to rescue precious metals.
03:37Added to this is the high youth unemployment.
03:41Because these devices contain precious metals,
03:44you can sell them and make some money.
03:47There are many young people who go into this dangerous business just to have a job.
03:53These are the numerous problems related to electronic waste in general,
03:58not only in Accra, but in the whole of Ghana.
04:02When I started to work burning and disassembling devices,
04:07I was 17 or 18 years old.
04:12The devices come from the cities.
04:17We get it from the companies,
04:22we get it from the factories,
04:27we get it from the towns.
04:32We get it from the companies, houses, computers.
04:37When they brought it from Europe,
04:40they select the ones that are in better condition and they sell them.
04:45The ones that are not in good condition, they give them to us in parts.
04:50When they bring them here, we disassemble them and we take out the copper,
04:55we burn it.
05:04We are a group of scrap dealers that have come together.
05:09We are all together to form an association
05:12called the Association of Gran Accra Waste Manipulators.
05:16In our dump we manipulate metal waste, copper and aluminum,
05:21or other things, vehicles, heavy machinery from the factories,
05:26components from computers and other devices, like radios, televisions,
05:31and all other aspects of metal objects.
05:34We are interested in all that, yes.
05:42If 10 years ago someone had told me,
05:45you are going to have a laptop with internet
05:48to make calls and watch movies,
05:51you are going to have a mobile phone and also a tablet
05:54to be able to do all those things, I would not have believed it.
05:57So every time we have more and more information technologies,
06:01and we are not seeing this only in developed countries,
06:04also in developing countries.
06:09In the case of mobile phones, for example, in 2011,
06:13almost 500 million were manufactured.
06:16Two years later, the number had risen to 1,000 million.
06:20Today there are more mobile operating phones in the world than people.
06:27But sooner or later, all mobile phones break down.
06:31In 2014 we produced 42 million tons of electronic waste globally.
06:37It is the equivalent of 400 of the largest aircraft carriers in the world,
06:42or 115 Empire State Buildings,
06:45or seven times the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
06:51There are two problems.
06:53The first one is that we generate too much waste,
06:56because we have the habit of throwing things away.
06:59The second is that at the end of the life of these devices,
07:04the dangerous components they contain remain.
07:07If they are recycled following safety standards, nothing happens.
07:11Neither people nor the environment are in danger.
07:14But if they end up in a country where those controls do not exist,
07:18and they are not well manipulated,
07:20they can be exposed to those toxic substances.
07:24We are talking, for example, of devices designed for non-burning,
07:28which contain fire retardants,
07:30and all kinds of chemical substances that serve a function
07:33both in the production process of the device and in its use.
07:37But when you start to disassemble them or burn them,
07:40for example, to melt copper or gold,
07:43or treat them with acids to rescue some components,
07:46to reuse them, the result is disastrous.
07:49You do not control the substances that are released.
07:53They can be released in the form of smoke or acids
07:56that infiltrate the ground.
08:01The problem of all these things is the smoke.
08:09When you breathe it,
08:12even when you are not feeling well,
08:16you cannot sleep, and you get a fever.
08:21Again, when you breathe the smoke,
08:26it is a black substance.
08:38Well, I have an interest in seeing how the environment
08:41and the health of people interact.
08:43Being my major, I am a toxicologist,
08:46and I am dedicated to analyzing new components.
08:50The team of the documentary wanted to do an independent study
08:54to see if there is a chemical contamination
08:57related to the elimination and processing of electronic waste.
09:02As part of this study, I have collaborated with Sam Somatiemo,
09:05a former professor and currently a researcher at the GAEC,
09:09the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission,
09:11a government research center.
09:17I was teaching in a secondary school
09:20when we received a letter from a Dutch company.
09:25I don't want to give names.
09:27They wanted to donate computers and other technological devices
09:31to promote education in information technology.
09:35We were delighted, because at that time we needed it.
09:40They also paid for the shipment.
09:42Two 12-meter containers, from Holland to my hometown, Acropon.
09:47Before distributing them, we tested the computers
09:50and realized that 80% didn't work.
09:53We were surprised.
09:55Why would a company want to pay so much money to send us their garbage?
09:59At that time I hadn't heard of electronic waste.
10:02I didn't know what it was, but I spoke to other professors at institutes
10:06and they all told me that the same story had happened to them.
10:10In one case, even, all the computers were damaged.
10:14I also went onto the net and searched
10:17how to get rid of useless computers in Africa.
10:20And I found so much information about electronic waste
10:23that I dedicated myself to investigating the phenomenon.
10:36So these black areas, were they cremation areas?
10:39Yes, cremation areas.
10:45I'm thinking of these groups of people who are dedicated to disassembling.
10:51By hand.
10:52Yes.
10:53Are they capable of disassembling anything?
10:56You bring it to them and they disassemble it.
10:59You can bring them a last model Ferrari and they disassemble it.
11:03Here we see how the typical disassembly activity of electronic waste develops.
11:10As you can see, they have disassembled almost everything.
11:14Those who are dedicated to this task are those who have the highest rate of sinisterity.
11:19Look at this guy who is hammering the compressor.
11:23As soon as the hammer slips, he can have a fatal accident.
11:40What is he doing?
11:42He shouldn't open that, right?
11:45Watch out, there's gas.
11:48Release the gas.
11:50It's potentially dangerous.
11:53That's why his colleagues complain.
11:56You never have to do it, right? It's gas.
11:59It could be oil-liquid gas.
12:02And next to it, there are flames.
12:09I have to find something.
12:18Find something.
12:20I think what's surprising when you open a mobile phone and you look at the motherboard,
12:40is how tiny some of the components are.
12:45We demand that our phones are increasingly powerful and smaller.
12:50The components are reaching really tiny dimensions.
12:54The capacitors and resistors today measure less than a third of a millimeter.
12:59We are talking about diameters almost comparable to those of a human hair.
13:05This phone is quite old.
13:07It is easy to disassemble to a certain extent, but then it gets complicated.
13:12I've taken these screws out.
13:14And now what?
13:17Well, here we have the electronic components.
13:21You can see that they have begun to curl up.
13:25And then there is the motherboard.
13:31In mobile phones there is a lot of protection, because it is still an object that transmits a lot of radiation.
13:37If you look closely, you will see here this little motor,
13:42which makes the mobile phone vibrate when this weight that it has on top starts to rotate.
13:48It is made of a tungsten alloy, because it has to be heavy.
13:52Here we go.
13:54Here is a little more motherboard.
13:57And underneath, if we take it apart, is the gold.
14:03Whenever there are buttons, there is usually gold.
14:06That's why smartphones are a little cheaper, to a certain extent,
14:10because you don't need to use gold, since they don't have a keyboard or buttons.
14:17From this design, it is clear that not many turns have been given to the way to extract the recyclable elements,
14:24or to remove the valuable and toxic materials.
14:27They are integrated into the design.
14:30The common sense already tells you that it is a difficult task.
14:35And that it may not be worth it.
14:37If you are a recycler, you are going to tend to throw it directly into the recycling oven,
14:42and then rescue the precious materials.
14:45Current recycling technologies have certain limitations.
14:49We can only rescue some of the elements in the waste circuit.
14:53Of electronic waste, in general, only half of the elements are rescued.
14:59In other words, we are consuming and throwing away some very precious materials.
15:04There is a whole range of materials that are considered toxic in the European Union.
15:09Lead is the element that people have heard of.
15:13But there is also cadmium, arsenic, which, as you know, is poison,
15:18mercury, and many other harmful substances for health.
15:22As long as the amount of substances that are released into the environment
15:27is done in a controlled and ecological way,
15:30we can deal with these harmful elements for health.
15:34But if it is done uncontrollably, released into the environment,
15:38and infiltrated into the soil and air, then we have a problem.
15:43They are burning the cables to extract the copper and sell it.
15:57We better go that way.
16:01Okay.
16:02Let's go through the smoke. Are you ready?
16:05Yes, let's go.
16:06Are you sure?
16:08In terms of the main chemical substances that we are studying,
16:13we have focused on heavy metals.
16:16The five we have chosen are lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and mercury,
16:22which are known to be more or less harmful to humans.
16:32Oh my God.
16:33This is awful.
16:35When you come back, shower conscientiously, with a lot of soap.
16:40This is going to be one of the most difficult samples you have ever done.
16:48Try to avoid the trash as much as possible.
17:06We collect the samples and take them to the laboratory to dry them with air and remove the moisture.
17:13We then sieve each sample of soil to obtain a fine powder,
17:16without pieces of plastic or grass or whatever.
17:19We weigh each sample to determine the amount we would use in the next step.
17:27Then we add some acids to carry out a reaction known as acid digestion.
17:34This reaction allows us to isolate heavy metals in a solution.
17:38We use those solutions in the last phase of the process,
17:42which is the analysis and data collection.
17:45So we take those solutions and we put them in an atomic absorption spectroscope
17:50to detect the concentrations of heavy metals per gram.
17:54And that's how we determined the levels of the five heavy metals we chose.
18:06We were shocked.
18:08Before we carried out the tests, we assumed that we would find contamination.
18:15But I did not expect to find it in such a small sample,
18:20nor in the areas that were not directly in contact with the electronic waste.
18:26In order to establish a very clear causal relationship between each heavy metal
18:32or between each substance and a health problem,
18:35you have to go through a long process, because we enter the field of toxicology.
18:41But our study, which is backed by other studies with similar results,
18:50gives you an idea that something is going on.
18:56Every time I come back, before I enter the house,
18:59I take off everything I was wearing in akvoblossy.
19:02I take off my clothes and go straight to the bathroom.
19:06In order not to touch anything in the house, I go straight to the bathroom and wash myself.
19:13Then I leave my clothes in the sink for about three days,
19:17before putting them in the washing machine.
19:21All so as not to contaminate anyone in the house,
19:24because I am worried about the high pollution rate of the place.
19:32The problems associated with toxic materials are not new.
19:37There are international treaties that regulate their transport,
19:41their manipulation and their destruction.
19:43Since electronic waste contains toxic materials, it is classified as dangerous.
19:49The main treaty on hazardous waste is known as the Basel Convention.
19:55My name is Jim Puckett, and I am the founder and director of the Basel Action Network.
20:01The name comes from a United Nations Convention
20:05to try to help developing countries
20:08protect themselves from toxic waste from the richest and most developed countries.
20:14It is a unique convention.
20:16It is an environmentally-driven agreement,
20:18and basically designed by developing countries.
20:22And it is extremely important that it is applied to those countries
20:26that produce the most waste.
20:28The country that produces the most waste per capita
20:31more than any other country in the world is the United States.
20:35There are more than 170 countries,
20:37including all the countries of the European Union,
20:40Australia, Canada, Japan, etc., that have ratified it.
20:44But the United States refuses to follow its example.
20:47There are only two countries that signed the Basel Convention,
20:51but never ratified it,
20:54and that is Haiti and the United States.
20:57When something is exported from the United States
21:00and it is on its way to China,
21:02as soon as it leaves our territorial waters,
21:04it becomes criminal trafficking.
21:17Okay, it's Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015.
21:21It's 10...
21:2311.22 in the morning here in Paramount, California.
21:26We have a CRT monitor with cathodic rays
21:29that we are going to send to the recycling company
21:32Atan Recycling, on Norton Avenue, in Chino, California.
21:36So with every item...
21:38I'm going to disable each item somehow
21:41so that it's not reusable.
21:47And...
21:49Pull the main power...
21:51The power cable is no good.
21:54We don't want this monitor to be a waste,
21:57that it can't be reused.
21:59So that, in the end, we can say
22:01that all this time it has been a waste.
22:04If the recycler says he repaired it
22:06and sent it elsewhere for reuse,
22:08we will have proof.
22:10We have a video in which you can see me destroy it.
22:14There is barely any data
22:16about the international traffic of electronic waste,
22:19and the ones that are there are not reliable,
22:22because we are not gathering information
22:24about the waste traffic.
22:26If you really want reliable information
22:28about the waste traffic,
22:30you have to get your hands in the dough.
22:33You have to get your hands on the ground.
22:36You have to follow the containers
22:38that leave the recycling plants and disappear.
22:41You have to have people in ports
22:43like the one in Tema, in Accra, Ghana,
22:45or in Hong Kong,
22:46to see what comes in and where it goes.
22:49You also have to think about using locators,
22:51something that we are starting to do now.
22:54This is what you have to do
22:56to find out what's going on.
22:58Okay.
22:59So it's these monitors over here.
23:01In this order?
23:02Well, not in this order, but...
23:04I'm going to look at the numbers just in case.
23:06Sure.
23:07You take the labels and we look at the numbers.
23:09That's the order you're supposed to go in.
23:11Great.
23:12And just let me show you a tank.
23:14You're probably going to see a container here.
23:16It's still driving all the way to the end.
23:18You're going to look to the left,
23:20and you're going to look and see
23:22a lot of electronic waste.
23:24You're going to see containers everywhere.
23:26Like that.
23:27And probably a container here,
23:29because they have a loading ramp.
23:45Hello.
23:47I was told to come here.
23:49I want to get rid of it.
23:51Give him the form.
23:58Is it for personal use?
24:00Yes.
24:01How did you hear about us?
24:03I have to get rid of it.
24:05Recycle it.
24:06Can you help me?
24:07Yes, of course.
24:08Okay.
24:09So we have now deployed about 200 locators.
24:13And we've followed the whereabouts of these devices
24:17all over the Earth.
24:20This is the one that went from Michigan,
24:22as you can see.
24:24It went dot-dot-dot across the country on a train,
24:27and then out of Long Beach, California,
24:30it went to a port in China,
24:32and went down to a very remote and rural region in China.
24:38And if we zoom in on that,
24:40you see a blotch of points
24:44every 24 hours.
24:46If we take that into the satellite map,
24:49we can see that all of this
24:51has fallen on the ground
24:53in the middle of a farm community in China.
25:12It's a mistake to circumscribe the problem
25:15only to Ghana.
25:16The Ghana dumps are easy to access.
25:19You get off the plane, you go to the site,
25:21and after 20 minutes you're already taking pictures.
25:24That's why it's featured so much in the media,
25:26but it's not, much less,
25:27the only place where this is happening.
25:30We know that much larger amounts of electronic waste
25:33are being handled in China,
25:35in India, in Pakistan,
25:37in other countries in Africa.
25:39It's a global problem.
25:41It's an economic problem.
25:43You can't confine it just to Ghana.
25:47Basilea's network of action
25:49found that a batch of cathode ray tube monitors
25:52entrusted to the recycling company
25:54Atan Recycling
25:56was exported to Taiwan.
25:58The Taiwanese law prohibits
26:00the importation of broken electronic devices.
26:05Electronic waste in Asia
26:07has increased by 63% in five years.
26:10The dump machines are old
26:12and contain more toxic materials.
26:14A cathode ray tube
26:16can contain up to three kilos of lead.
26:18Atan Recycling refused to comment.
26:21We may not have had time to study all the substances,
26:24but the five elements chosen
26:26are known to be negative for health,
26:28particularly lead and mercury.
26:35There are multiple ways
26:37by which those heavy metals
26:39can affect humans.
26:41It can be harmful to inhale them,
26:44ingest them,
26:46or come in contact with them.
26:48And they are very harmful
26:50for pregnant women,
26:52because heavy metals
26:54can affect the development of embryos.
26:59We showed the results to Dr. Tony Fletcher,
27:02an epidemiologist who works
27:04between British Public Health
27:06and the London School of Hygiene
27:08and Tropical Medicine,
27:10where I also work.
27:13For a few years now,
27:15my research has focused
27:17on chemical risk,
27:19especially in polluted soils
27:21and drinking water.
27:23I learned about Agbogblossie
27:25from Markella,
27:27who told me about the alarming
27:29soil pollution rates.
27:31It's very worrying,
27:33because they are not exposed
27:35to potential risks.
27:37And they don't smell.
27:39Heavy metals are not perceived
27:41by smell or anything.
27:43The level of exposure
27:45to these substances
27:47can entail chronic health risks
27:49without the individual
27:51knowing what's happening to them.
27:53There are two different types
27:55of risk associated with these activities.
27:57We have the risk of neurological damage,
27:59brain damage and nervous system damage,
28:01the risk of lead and mercury damage,
28:03which are among the polluting substances,
28:05and the risk of cancer,
28:07linked to arsenic,
28:09chromium and cadmium.
28:13The five elements studied
28:15are all linked
28:17to certain ailments,
28:19including cancer,
28:21respiratory problems,
28:23developmental defects
28:25and neurotoxicity.
28:27The concentration of these elements
28:29in Agbog Bloksi
28:31has sometimes been
28:33more than 100 times
28:35that of the soil outside the landfill.
28:39We don't feel good.
28:41Looking at the air we breathe
28:43and our economic conditions,
28:45we have health problems.
28:47Because most of the victims
28:49of the activities
28:51we do here
28:53are us.
28:55We suffer the negative effects
28:57before they affect anyone else.
28:59So we are not happy
29:01with what is happening.
29:03And because of our situation,
29:05even if one of our children
29:07were to die,
29:09we would not have money
29:11to take him to the hospital.
29:13We are confused,
29:15and we don't know what to do.
29:17That is the situation
29:19that we find ourselves in.
29:21But nobody is being assessed here?
29:23Once in a while,
29:25yes,
29:27but they are volunteers.
29:29Volunteers?
29:31Purely volunteers.
29:33And do you know what they consist of?
29:35Do they take samples?
29:37Yes, they take some samples
29:39and they measure the vital constants,
29:41blood pressure,
29:43sugar levels.
29:45But we don't have
29:47a national laboratory for toxicology.
29:49No, we don't have
29:51a laboratory for toxicology.
29:53Do they go to the hospital or not?
29:55Well, they might go to the hospital.
29:57There is a clinic nearby
29:59where they can go.
30:01But again,
30:03because we don't have
30:05a national laboratory for toxicology,
30:07and they are people
30:09who live below the poverty line,
30:11they don't have the economic resources
30:13to pay for the type of analysis
30:15that would help them
30:17identify their ailments.
30:19Maybe.
30:21Headaches or vomiting,
30:23some of the symptoms of poisoning.
30:25Poisoning.
30:27The doctor can prescribe
30:29a treatment against malaria,
30:31a very prevalent disease in Ghana.
30:33And the person can end up dying
30:35because their problem is not malaria
30:37but poisoning.
30:51Ghana seems to have a special relationship
30:53with the United Kingdom.
30:55Many of the people involved
30:57are expatriates
30:59from the former colonial relationship.
31:01So many of those materials
31:03are being exported from the United Kingdom
31:05and to a lesser extent
31:07from continental Europe,
31:09the Netherlands,
31:11and the United Kingdom.
31:13And they are being exported
31:15from the United Kingdom
31:17to the United Kingdom
31:19from continental Europe,
31:21the Netherlands, Germany.
31:23But Ghana doesn't seem to be
31:25importing much from the United States
31:27according to our investigations.
31:29Since the United States
31:31has not signed the Basel Convention,
31:33their companies can export
31:35electronic garbage without
31:37infringing any federal law.
31:39In the European Union,
31:41which has ratified the Convention,
31:43in addition to other agreements,
31:45only electronic devices
31:47are allowed in developing nations.
31:49In spite of everything,
31:51European countries
31:53continue to export electronic garbage.
32:13When my boss imports
32:15these products from the United Kingdom,
32:17they arrive directly at the ports.
32:19Our general manager
32:21has to process
32:23all the paperwork and so on.
32:25Before we take them
32:27to our stores,
32:29we unload them
32:31in the warehouse.
32:33Sometimes,
32:35not always,
32:37out of the 50 devices we receive,
32:39maybe only 40
32:41work.
32:43We have to check them.
32:47In that case,
32:49my job is to examine them
32:51and repair them.
32:53But they all come from the United Kingdom, yes.
33:01We don't know the magnitude
33:03of illegal activities
33:05because no one fills out a form
33:07to say,
33:09I just illegally acquired
33:11or whatever.
33:13But we believe that the figure
33:15is around 100,000 tons
33:17of electronic waste
33:19illegally exported from England
33:21every year.
33:23Those responsible for this trafficking
33:25are criminals who do it for money.
33:27There's a whole range of people
33:29involved in these illegal activities,
33:31from those who see it
33:33as a quick way
33:35to make money
33:37to those who organize themselves
33:39for all kinds of criminal activities.
33:41In this country
33:43and in the rest of Europe,
33:45we have an industry
33:47capable of recovering
33:49those electronic wastes
33:51and turning them into valuable materials.
33:53Unfortunately,
33:55there are people who take the money,
33:57recycle those materials
33:59and then send them to countries
34:01around the world where it's cheaper
34:03to get rid of them,
34:05which is illegal.
34:07Meanwhile, the documentary team
34:09has hidden four locators
34:11in cathode ray tube monitors
34:13that have previously been unused
34:15by an independent electrician.
34:19Four delivery directions
34:21were set in London.
34:23Of the four cathode ray tube monitors,
34:25three were taken to recycling centers
34:27where they were eliminated
34:29according to the rules.
34:31The fourth, however,
34:33traveled to another destination.
34:35¿Qué tal?
34:37Bien.
34:39Quería reciclar esto. Está roto.
34:41Por supuesto.
34:43Te doy 50 peniques.
34:45No lo necesitas, ¿no?
34:47Te lo dejo si quieres,
34:49pero está roto.
34:51No importa. Muchas gracias.
34:53Bien, gracias.
34:55Al cabo de un mes,
34:57había llegado al puerto de Tema,
34:59en Accra,
35:01desde donde fue trasladado
35:03¿Todo viene de Reino Unido?
35:05De Reino Unido, sí.
35:11Two members of the documentary team
35:13found the cathode ray tube monitor
35:15on sale
35:17in a second-hand objects store.
35:19Veamos.
35:21Bien.
35:23Aquí está el localizador.
35:25Claramente es este.
35:27Sí, aquí.
35:29Se lo vendieron
35:31por 15 dólares.
35:33Y seguía roto.
35:37No todos los aparatos
35:39que se exportan para ser
35:41reutilizados siguen funcionando.
35:43En este país se nos da de pena
35:45reparar las cosas.
35:47Casi nadie lleva a reparar
35:49sus aparatos electrónicos,
35:51mientras que en esos países
35:53es relativamente fácil.
35:55Saber si un artículo es basura o no
35:57depende del punto de vista.
35:59Legal y medioambiental y socialmente
36:01es más sensato reutilizar los ordenadores
36:03en la medida de lo posible,
36:05porque hay lugares de África
36:07donde el 80 o el 90% de la población
36:09no se puede permitir
36:11comprar aparatos nuevos.
36:13Si queremos alcanzar los objetivos
36:15de desarrollo del milenio,
36:17la gente tiene que ser capaz de comprar estos artículos
36:19y no pueden comprar los nuevos.
36:23Creo que en Ghana tenemos la percepción
36:25de que los productos electrónicos
36:27de segunda mano
36:29son de mejor calidad que los de primera mano.
36:33Y a veces es cierto,
36:35porque la mayoría de los productos
36:37de primera mano que importamos
36:39de Asia son de mala calidad
36:41y se rompen
36:43con mucha facilidad.
36:45Así que normalmente
36:47la gente prefiere comprar
36:49aparatos de segunda mano.
36:53Ya se exporten de manera legal
36:55o ilegal,
36:57hay un problema innegable.
36:59Y es que tarde o temprano
37:01todos los aparatos electrónicos
37:03se convierten en basura.
37:05Lo que sucede en los países en desarrollo
37:07es que carecen de las infraestructuras
37:09de reciclaje necesarias
37:11para poder eliminarlos de manera segura.
37:13Y puesto que no se pueden mandar
37:15a otra parte,
37:17acaban en lugares como Agboglosi.
37:21En Ghana hay gente
37:23que se dedica a ir por ahí
37:25para comprar desechos.
37:29No sabemos para qué los usan,
37:31pero nos los compran barato
37:35y se los llevan.
37:37Normalmente vienen al almacén.
37:41Cuando los examinamos
37:43y vemos que están defectuosos
37:45y que no sirven para nada,
37:47los apartamos y ellos vienen a por ellos.
37:49No los podemos tirar a la basura
37:51y no podemos mandarlos al vertedero
37:53porque hay gente que iría a por ellos.
37:57Es importante que vengan
37:59a buscarlos a nuestro almacén.
38:01No hay otra manera.
38:03Si no, acaban en las manos equivocadas.
38:09Creo que los fabricantes
38:11de equipos electrónicos
38:13se tienen que responsabilizar
38:15de sus productos.
38:17No es de recibo que en Agboglosi
38:19encontremos teclados de Dell con plomo.
38:23Y más cuando en Reino Unido
38:25se llenan la boca con la economía circular.
38:27No es de recibo.
38:33¿Cómo es que Dell, HP, Toshiba
38:35y los demás fabricantes
38:37se hacen responsables
38:39del fin de ciclo de vida
38:41de sus productos en Reino Unido,
38:43en Europa y en Estados Unidos,
38:45pero en África son los jóvenes pobres
38:47que se obligan de desmontarlos
38:49y envenenarse ellos mismos
38:51y al resto de la población?
38:53Se me cae el alma a los pies
38:55cuando veo esas placas base
38:57y esos teclados
38:59de estas compañías multinacionales
39:01aquí tirados.
39:03El problema de Agboglosi
39:05no empezó ayer.
39:07Hace ya por lo menos diez años
39:09que se está gestando.
39:11¿Cómo es que no ha habido
39:13ninguna medida concreta
39:15de los fabricantes para resolverlo?
39:35Damas y caballeros,
39:37tomen asiento.
39:39Desconecten sus dispositivos móviles.
39:41Bienvenidos al futuro.
39:43Tomamos millones
39:45de decisiones pequeñas y grandes.
39:47Hay innumerables ideas
39:49a nuestra disposición.
39:51Un sinfín de opciones por elegir
39:53que configurarán el mundo
39:55de hoy, de mañana
39:57y de los próximos años.
39:59Las nuevas tecnologías
40:01nos están dando la posibilidad
40:03de navegar en el caos
40:05y de definir nuestro propio futuro.
40:09Ha sido muy interesante
40:11ver que hoy el foco global
40:13está puesto tanto en el cambio climático
40:15como en la cuestión de los materiales,
40:17cuántos tenemos
40:19y cuántos necesitamos.
40:21Si todo el mundo consumiese al ritmo
40:23al que consumen hoy los estadounidenses,
40:25harían falta cinco planetas tierra
40:27para satisfacer nuestras necesidades
40:29y la cosa no va a cambiar
40:31en un futuro cercano.
40:33Es muy urgente que repensemos
40:35a nivel global nuestra forma de fabricar
40:37y usar las cosas.
40:39Nuestro objetivo para 2020
40:41es recolectar un millón de toneladas
40:43de aparatos electrónicos.
40:45Ya vamos por 700.000.
40:47Solo con el programa Reconectar
40:49llevamos 213.500 millones
40:51de toneladas desde 2004.
40:53Somos la empresa
40:55que más recicla a nivel global.
40:57Operamos en 78 países y territorios.
40:59O sea que nos lo tomamos
41:01muy en serio.
41:03Cuando ves esas imágenes
41:05de residuos electrónicos en China
41:07y ves una caja en la que pone
41:09Dell, es nuestra marca
41:11la que está en juego.
41:13Hemos visto todos esos residuos
41:15de los que nos deshacemos
41:17en los países en desarrollo.
41:19Por eso Dell ha tomado la iniciativa
41:21de promover la prohibición
41:23de que se exporten desde Estados Unidos.
41:25En 2009, Dell se convirtió
41:27en el primer fabricante de ordenadores
41:29que prohibió la exportación
41:31de productos electrónicos
41:33averiados a naciones en desarrollo.
41:36El problema del reciclaje
41:38es que en sí mismo
41:40no es una solución.
41:42Es un proceso complejo y caro.
41:44Y aún así hay muchos materiales
41:46valiosos imposibles de rescatar.
41:48Para reducir la basura electrónica
41:50que producimos,
41:52hay que repensar nuestra forma
41:54de diseñar y fabricar la tecnología.
41:56Creo sinceramente
41:58que el modelo económico actual,
42:00lineal, de usar y tirar,
42:02es un modelo que ya no vale.
42:04La mayoría de los aparatos
42:06que nos rodean
42:08se fabrican de manera lineal.
42:10Es un modelo que empezó
42:12con la revolución industrial
42:14y es un proceso muy eficiente
42:16porque conseguimos producir en masa
42:18aparatos de muy alta calidad
42:20a precios asequibles.
42:22Es un modelo
42:24que no se ha tenido en cuenta
42:26lo que pasa con estos productos
42:28cuando acaban su ciclo vital.
42:30Raras veces se pueden arreglar
42:32o reparar o reutilizar,
42:34un componente clave
42:36si queremos adoptar
42:38un modelo más circular.
42:40La economía circular
42:42se define como una economía
42:44diseñada para autoregenerarse.
42:46Los productos se fabrican
42:48y se optimizan
42:50pensando en la decisión
42:52del consumidor.
42:54Cuando éste compra un artículo,
42:56compara sus prestaciones
42:58con las de otros similares
43:00y no se fija en sus esperanzas de vida.
43:02Hay que motivar a los fabricantes
43:04para que creen productos atractivos,
43:06útiles, de última generación
43:08y que aguanten el paso del tiempo.
43:10La economía circular en la electrónica
43:12gira alrededor de la reparación
43:14y la reutilización.
43:16Si prolongamos la vida útil
43:18de los productos,
43:20tendremos que olvidar la importancia
43:22al reciclaje,
43:24porque es la parte menos importante del ciclo.
43:26Estábamos tan frustrados con la industria
43:28y con su nula voluntad
43:30de resolver el problema
43:32que les dijimos.
43:34Ya que no queréis diseñar una solución,
43:36os la diseñamos nosotros.
43:38Vamos a descifrar el código fuente
43:40de vuestro hardware.
43:42Vamos a coger vuestro producto,
43:44lo vamos a destripar
43:46y le vamos a enseñar a la gente
43:48y descubriremos cuál es el proceso
43:50para repararlo y lo publicaremos.
43:54Aquí tengo un Apple Watch.
43:56Es todo un reto desmontarlo
43:58porque tiene un cristal
44:00y hay que calentarlo y usar un cúter
44:02para cortar la junta que lo rodea
44:04y acceder a su interior.
44:06Cuando lo abrimos,
44:08nos encontramos sepultada en las entrañas
44:10del Apple Watch la batería.
44:12Si quisiéramos reciclar el reloj,
44:14bastaría con tirarlo a una trituradora
44:16pero la batería plantea
44:18un problema de seguridad
44:20porque si está mínimamente cargada
44:22y la tiras a una trituradora
44:24puede prender fuego al polvo presente
44:26en la trituradora y causar una explosión.
44:28Ninguna compañía de reciclaje
44:30está dispuesta a dedicar
44:32cinco minutos del tiempo
44:34de un trabajador asalariado
44:36para sacar la batería
44:38y recuperar los materiales rescatables.
44:46Para resolver todos los problemas
44:48habría que crear una realidad diferente
44:50pero si nos limitamos a los problemas
44:52de la cadena de suministro
44:54podemos promover un cambio en la industria
44:56¿Cómo?
44:58Creando una manera de pensar diferente
45:00En ese sentido,
45:02creo que Fairphone
45:04forma parte de un movimiento más amplio.
45:06Hemos tenido mucho éxito
45:08en el sentido de que
45:10cuando empezamos
45:12no éramos más que ellos
45:14En un momento dado
45:16nos dimos cuenta
45:18de que para cambiar las cosas
45:20teníamos que formar
45:22parte del sistema económico
45:24y pensamos
45:26si hubiera más de 5.000 personas
45:28dispuestas a comprar nuestro teléfono
45:30lo haríamos
45:32y pasó algo fantástico
45:34cuando lanzamos el crowdfunding
45:36vendimos más de 10.000 teléfonos
45:38en tres semanas
45:40Para que os hagáis una idea
45:42los teníamos en nuestra cuenta bancaria
45:44y no sabíamos hacer un teléfono
45:46así que entramos un poco en pánico
45:48pero vimos que la gente
45:50estaba comprometida
45:52La misión de Fairphone
45:54como empresa social
45:56es contribuir a crear
45:58una economía más justa
46:00diseñando un teléfono
46:02Suena muy grandilocuente
46:04eso de una economía más justa
46:06Es algo muy intangible
46:08No se puede cambiar
46:10el sistema económico
46:12de un día para otro
46:14Así que lo que hemos hecho
46:16ha sido identificar
46:18en nuestra cadena de valor
46:20cuatro áreas de acción
46:22que queremos mejorar continuamente
46:24desde el punto de vista
46:26social y medioambiental
46:28Esas áreas son la explotación minera
46:30el diseño, la fabricación
46:32y el ciclo de vida
46:34Por ejemplo, en el ámbito
46:36de la explotación minera
46:38tenemos los ingredientes
46:40de países en conflicto
46:42es decir, el estaño, el tantalio
46:44el tunsteno y el oro del Congo
46:46y los países vecinos
46:48Si invertimos en explotar
46:50minas certificadas
46:52libres de conflictos
46:54esperamos encontrar alternativas
46:56para que los mineros congoleños
46:58puedan trabajar en minas
47:00certificadas verdes
47:02en vez de trabajar en minas
47:04gestionadas por grupos rebeldes
47:06Actualmente, uno de los principales
47:08fallos de los smartphones
47:10es que se diseñan para que sean
47:12muy bonitos en las tiendas
47:14pero no se diseñan para que sobrevivan
47:16digamos, a la forma en que los tratamos
47:18Así que lo hemos solucionado
47:20con esta funda integrada
47:22que le da una resistencia mucho mayor
47:24Otro de los fallos
47:26de los teléfonos es que
47:28cuando se nos rompe la pantalla
47:30normalmente lo tenemos que llevar
47:32a una tienda y quedarnos sin él
47:34durante 10 días
47:36El Fairphone 2
47:38se puede abrir por aquí
47:40y podemos retirar la pantalla
47:44Lo que hemos hecho
47:46ha sido aislar todos los componentes
47:48electromecánicos
47:50todos los componentes electrónicos
47:52que tienen movimiento
47:56La lente de la cámara
47:58tiene que enfocar
48:00El altavoz tiene que vibrar
48:02El USB tiene un conector
48:04que entra y sale todos los días
48:06Así que todos esos componentes electrónicos
48:08son los que más rápido se rompen
48:10Por ejemplo
48:12si mi cámara tiene un problema
48:14cuando ya tengo el diagnóstico
48:16me podría comprar
48:18una cámara nueva
48:20y con un sencillo
48:22destornillador Philips
48:24ya está
48:26Podría retirar la antigua
48:32Estoy convencida de que
48:34dentro de un par de años
48:36las principales industrias
48:38habrán asimilado la noción
48:40de economía circular
48:42en la gestión de sus productos
48:44en el diseño, en sus servicios
48:46y en la gestión del fin de ciclo de vida
48:48de sus productos
48:52La tecnología está cambiando
48:54la sociedad más rápido que nunca
48:56El ritmo al que la fabricamos
48:58y consumimos
49:00está cometiendo récords todos los años
49:02A consecuencia de ello
49:04también estamos tirando
49:06cada vez más cosas
49:08Hay cada vez más lugares
49:10donde se procesan los residuos electrónicos
49:12en condiciones insalubres
49:14con peligrosas consecuencias
49:16ACVOCLOSY es tan sólo un ejemplo
49:18Ha llegado el momento de pensar
49:20de una manera diferente
49:22una manera que garantice a los consumidores
49:24que sus residuos electrónicos
49:26no aterricen en lugares como ACVOCLOSY
49:28Necesitamos productores y diseñadores
49:30que fabriquen productos duraderos
49:32Necesitamos una solución
49:46Podemos hablar todo lo que queramos
49:48de economía circular
49:50pero mientras tanto
49:52la gente sigue dejando placas base
49:54tiradas por ahí
49:56¿Por qué?
49:58¿Por qué contaminamos a los niños con estas cosas
50:00cuando las podemos tratar
50:02adecuadamente y devolverlas
50:04a la cadena de producción?
50:06¿Es deliberado?
50:08¿O es sólo que la gente no piensa?
50:12Creo que algunos no se lo toman en serio
50:14Pues tenemos que empezar
50:16a tomarnoslo en serio
50:18porque vivimos en una aldea global
50:22No es un problema de gana
50:24No es sólo ACVOCLOSY
50:26El problema
50:28es cómo estamos tratando el fin de ciclo
50:30de vida de nuestra tecnología
50:32Ese es el problema fundamental
50:34No podemos verlo como
50:36el problema de ACVOCLOSY
50:38o decir
50:40Oh, cuánta contaminación hay en Ghana
50:42y poner esas imágenes fantásticas
50:44en los periódicos e internet
50:46y repetir el mantra
50:48de la contaminación en Ghana
50:50El problema es crear un sistema global
50:52consciente de la escasez de los materiales
50:54y de la necesidad de conservarlos
50:56El futuro depende de cómo, entre todos
50:58transformemos estos lugares
51:00y hagamos materiales que puedan regresar
51:02a la cadena de producción
51:04De lo contrario, la siguiente generación
51:06no podrá sobrevivir a nuestro estilo de vida
51:08porque esto no es sostenible
51:22Subtítulos realizados por la comunidad de Amara.org
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