Waste Relations: Too Much Trash, Not Enough Justice

Written by Eric Otieno Sumba
Image by Jamal Nxedlana

Waste Relations: Too Much Trash, Not Enough Justice

Written by Eric Otieno Sumba
Image by Jamal Nxedlana

Billstraße is his street. In a large yard full of old cars, scrap metal and outdated electronic appliances, Emeka has learned to move with a familiarity and efficiency that has proven to be a crucial skill in his trade. After years of experience, the Nigerian trader can tell whether an appliance is worth the trouble with a single glance. “Brown Goods” as they’re known, are discarded electronic appliances from all over Hamburg, Germany and beyond. Now and then, they will be put onto the street by their owners, awaiting collection for disposal by the city’s authorities. Emeka and his team know the city’s collection schedule, usually harvesting the best appliances before the city’s workers get to them. Approximately 1.3 million tonnes of electronic waste leave the EU in this way every year, according to a 2019 study by Ebenezer Kumi, Morton Hemkhaus, and Tim Bauer, researchers and authors connected to environmental and sustainability work in Ghana, particularly in the area of e-waste management.

Emeka, an essential worker in this reuse economy, is the protagonist of Brown
Goods (2020), a short film by artist Karima Ashadu, based on this particular community of recyclers in Hamburg. In the course of the film, we learn that Emeka is familiar with the second-hand markets in West Africa, specialising in so-called ex-UK, ex-Germany, ex-Europe appliances, television sets, refrigerators, iron boxes, freezers and more. Traders travel from West Africa to organise bulk shipments from Europe’s ports. Emeka’s job is hard and precarious, but as an undocumented migrant, his job offers one of the few ways to earn a living. Curiously, African-money is Emeka’s lifeline in Europe; he is one of many individuals in the world who earn their money within an economy of presumably worthless waste items. 

Many of the appliances that are shipped from Billstraße — approximately 70 percent, according to the aforementioned study — go on to provide years of useful service in households and shops across West Africa. Of this group, outdated software, incorrect current configuration, and dysfunctional operational temperature range, all render significant number of appliances functionally useless, which are then swiftly disposed. At Ghana’s Agbogbloshie dumpsite, all the appliances that were “dead on arrival” are dissected into bits by onsite recyclers, who are keen to retrieve precious metals from the appliances to sell or to use as raw materials for metalwork. The resulting fires burn for hours, and the recyclers — mostly school dropouts from the surrounding communities — stand beside the fumes, sort through the exposed metals as the toxic infernos spew putatively carcinogenic billows of smoke into the air. There is always a fire burning, and the smoke never seems to stop. Many recyclers must accept that chronic headaches, a persistent wheezy cough, or even mysterious skin ailments are simply necessary occupational hazards. Some of them end up with undiagnosed cancer by their early to mid twenties and are deceased before they hit thirty. Their stories are rarely told, with York-Fabian Rabe’s feature film Borga (2021) being a more recent example of the effects on workers.

Billstraße is his street. In a large yard full of old cars, scrap metal and outdated electronic appliances, Emeka has learned to move with a familiarity and efficiency that has proven to be a crucial skill in his trade. After years of experience, the Nigerian trader can tell whether an appliance is worth the trouble with a single glance. “Brown Goods” as they’re known, are discarded electronic appliances from all over Hamburg, Germany and beyond. Now and then, they will be put onto the street by their owners, awaiting collection for disposal by the city’s authorities. Emeka and his team know the city’s collection schedule, usually harvesting the best appliances before the city’s workers get to them. Approximately 1.3 million tonnes of electronic waste leave the EU in this way every year, according to a 2019 study by Ebenezer Kumi, Morton Hemkhaus, and Tim Bauer, researchers and authors connected to environmental and sustainability work in Ghana, particularly in the area of e-waste management.

Emeka, an essential worker in this reuse economy, is the protagonist of Brown
Goods (2020), a short film by artist Karima Ashadu, based on this particular community of recyclers in Hamburg. In the course of the film, we learn that Emeka is familiar with the second-hand markets in West Africa, specialising in so-called ex-UK, ex-Germany, ex-Europe appliances, television sets, refrigerators, iron boxes, freezers and more. Traders travel from West Africa to organise bulk shipments from Europe’s ports. Emeka’s job is hard and precarious, but as an undocumented migrant, his job offers one of the few ways to earn a living. Curiously, African-money is Emeka’s lifeline in Europe; he is one of many individuals in the world who earn their money within an economy of presumably worthless waste items. 

Many of the appliances that are shipped from Billstraße — approximately 70 percent, according to the aforementioned study — go on to provide years of useful service in households and shops across West Africa. Of this group, outdated software, incorrect current configuration, and dysfunctional operational temperature range, all render significant number of appliances functionally useless, which are then swiftly disposed. At Ghana’s Agbogbloshie dumpsite, all the appliances that were “dead on arrival” are dissected into bits by onsite recyclers, who are keen to retrieve precious metals from the appliances to sell or to use as raw materials for metalwork. The resulting fires burn for hours, and the recyclers — mostly school dropouts from the surrounding communities — stand beside the fumes, sort through the exposed metals as the toxic infernos spew putatively carcinogenic billows of smoke into the air. There is always a fire burning, and the smoke never seems to stop. Many recyclers must accept that chronic headaches, a persistent wheezy cough, or even mysterious skin ailments are simply necessary occupational hazards. Some of them end up with undiagnosed cancer by their early to mid twenties and are deceased before they hit thirty. Their stories are rarely told, with York-Fabian Rabe’s feature film Borga (2021) being a more recent example of the effects on workers.