Waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams. Most waste streams from Europe are ending up on open landfills in West Africa. One of the largest WEEE dumping sites is located in Agbogbloshie, Ghana. In 2017, the entrepreneur Joseph Awuah-Darko founded the Agbogblo.Shine Initiative to tackle the e-waste problem in Ghana. They are offering trainings and workshops to scrap dealers to process WEEE-waste without suffering from work-related health issues causing permanent distress on the worker.

Accra's primary source of air pollution is produced by WEEE, which is associated with the burning of electronics at the Agbogbloshie dumpsite. During the combustion, carcinogenic materials are released into the air and radioactive metals are stored in rivers and oceans. According to the World Bank, each year, $440 million is spent on diseases caused by lead and mercury contamination including work-related injuries like back pain and red itchy eyes. 

The Agbogblo.Shine initiative offers skills training to scrap dealers to transform e-waste into high-end furniture and valuable art by applying design thinking without combustion of WEEE. Educating scrap dealers on the need to adopt sustainable and safer methods of handling e-waste and advocating against the burning of e-waste belong to the tasks of the Agbogblo.Shine Initiative. For his work, Joseph Awuah-Darko was awarded by the West African Business Excellence Awards as “ Most Promising Social Enterprise “ for his efforts in climate action and environmental conservation. 

The initiative is based on the Sustainable Development Goal 11 set by the United Nations: making cities and human settlements more inclusive, clean, resilient, and sustainable. However, the importance of key stakeholders in WEEE policy direction cannot be overstated and cannot be done solely by one social impact organisation. There is a pressing need to raise awareness about WEE management issues.