La Tragédie électronique

The illegal recycling of electronics is a toxic business on a global scale. Why do three quarters of Europe's electronic waste disappear from the officiel recycling system? In the suburbs of Accra, the capital of Ghana, children play at dismantling scrapped electronic equipment, surrounded by foul smelling and toxic fumes, in a sadly-famous, uncontrolled rubbish dump. The film takes this site as its point of departure, and is driven forward by Ghanaian journalist Mike Anane, who is an expert on the environment. He wants to know why his country has become the trash can of the developed countries. This lucid and efficient investigation by Cosima Dannoritzer (The Light Bulb Conspiracy) into several European countries, Asia and the U.S., reveals the apparatus of large-scale trafficking, as well as a complex chain of responsibility and collusion. (Arte)