Country
impounds huge shipment and claims British companies are using it as dumping
ground for toxic old appliances
The Guardian, Afua Hirsch, west Africa correspondent, Monday 4 November 2013
 |
| A computer dump in Accra, Ghana, in 2009, since when the country has clamped down on the import of waste electrical goods. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features |
One of the
UK's largest recycling companies has imported thousands of banned second-hand
fridges into Ghana, according to the west African country's energy regulator.
Thousands
of fridges discarded by British households have been shipped to Ghana by
Environcom, which describes itself as the UK's largest electrical re-use and
recycling company, flouting rules designed to protect the country's environment
against harmful chemicals, according to the Ghanaian authorities.
"Environcom
have sent a shipment of about 37 containers – almost 4,000 second-hand fridges
– to Ghana," said Victor Owusu, public affairs spokesman for Ghana's
energy commission.
Environcom
has links to British retailers Dixons and Argos, which supply used appliances
to the company for recycling. It admitted exporting the fridges to Ghana but
said it did so before the ban came into place.
"Environcom
stopped exporting fridges to Ghana some months ago in line with the
introduction of the ban, however some containers that left us on time got
delayed in transit and arrived in Ghana late and containers that were received
prior to the ban were also impounded," said a company spokesperson.
The
Guardian has seen documents which show the fridges were shipped from Britain to
Ghana in August this year, almost two months after the ban came into force.
Environcom says it sells second-hand fridges to third parties to ship to Ghana,
and that it could not be held responsible for delays during the process.
The
Guardian has seen an email exchange between Environcom and the Ghanaian
authorities in which the company threatened to withdraw plans to invest in a
recycling plant in the country if it was not allowed to import parts from
second-hand fridges.
"Environcom
have been working on a multimillion GBP investment in Ghana … Your latest
feedback has led us to question whether we withdraw from this project and look
at alternative markets within west Africa," wrote Graeme Parkin from
Environcom, in an email dated 21 June.
Environcom
says it had been seeking to clarify the law in Ghana and was now working on a
new agreement to invest in recycling facilities in the country.
There is
increasing criticism of the practice of sending second-hand electrical goods to
African countries, where many end up in toxic rubbish dumps scavenged by
children and poisoning local environments.
A study by
Greenpeace found that as much as 75% of "second-hand goods" imported
to Africa could not be reused, and that in Ghana, goods that had been dumped
were releasing hazardous substances into the environment, including toxic metal
lead; chemicals such as the phthalates DEHP and DBP, which are known to
interfere with sexual reproduction; and chlorinated dioxins known to promote
cancer.
Second-hand
fridges have been banned in Ghana since 1 January, after officials became
increasingly concerned about the number of old electrical products no longer
wanted by British households which were ending up in the country.
Ghana is
the first country in the region to introduce a ban on old fridges, and
officials hope it will reduce the quantities of toxic and ozone-unfriendly
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and reduce the energy burden on its already squeezed
national grid, where old fridges suck up more than half of the national energy
output of 2,000 megawatts a year.
Ghanaian
officials say numerous British companies are still importing second-hand fridges
to Ghana in violation of the ban. "Since the ban came into force, we have
made about 177 seizures of second-hand fridges," said Owusu. "Most of
those have come from the UK – over 90% of the imports are coming from there.
They know about the regulations, but they are errant companies that want to
defy the law."
Environcom
said discussions with the Ghanaian authorities about its impounded fridges were
continuing. But Ghanaian officials said the shipment would be destroyed, and
accused Britain of being the main exporter of unlawful second-hand electrical
goods to the country.
"We
are also determined that this ban of second-hand fridges into Ghana becomes a
success story," said Owusu. "Now that energy is becoming so critical,
who would allow their country to become a dumping ground for used refrigerators
from the rest of the world?"
Environcom
has come under the spotlight for sending second-hand electrical goods to Africa
in the past.
Earlier
this year company director Sean Feeney, a former senior Dixons executive,
admitted Environcom had exported old-fashioned cathode-ray tube TVs to Africa
when they became "hazardous" products, which could not be safely
disposed of.
"In
the past unscrupulous companies have used west Africa as a dumping
ground," the Environcom spokesperson said. "In fact, when the new
management came on board, Environcom stopped exporting refurbished TVs to
Africa for many years because of the difficulties in controlling the end
results and the impact on the local environment."
But as
shipments of second-hand British fridges continue to arrive at its ports, Ghana
said it would be making a complaint to the British government.
"We
are going to file a complaint to the EU, and to the British high
commission," Owusu said.
"I
know that in the UK itself this kind of thing would not happen. I think they think
it's Africa, so they can get away with it."
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