The Burning Field

Over 300 tones of e-waste from Europe and the United States are dumped every year in Agbogbloshie, a suburb of Accra in Ghana, the world’s largest scrap yard for old consumer electronics. Single young men and entire families from around the country, often driven by drought, have come to work there. Through the accounts of four young Ghanese we learn of the desolation, misery, and toxicity ubiquitous to the area. Film sequences illustrate the repetive work cycle of dissembling and burning of cables and components to obtain metals for resale. An enormous price paid by the people who depend upon e-waste to make a living.