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Dutch export their refuse to Africa

Dutch councils are indirectly profiting from the dumping of hazardous substances in Africa. Electronic equipment that is imported as second-hand goods is often dumped straight away. A change in regulations in the Netherlands has made the trade in superfluous electronic goods possible.

7 Aug 2008

Greenpeace says 80% of all electronic waste in Ghana comes from western Europe, and a proportion of it comes from the Netherlands. Greenpeace has found high concentrations of hazardous substances in the soil under Ghanaian scrap markets. Dutch electronic waste which in fact is not allowed to be exported finds its way to Ghana as second hand goods. An export trade which is not illegal. However, because a large proportion of the electronic goods do not work, it ends up in the scrap market.

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