Norwegian NRK has investigated the illegal trade in cars and old electronics. It is shipped all the way from Bergen in Norway - to the other side of the earth, to countries like Nigeria and Ghana.

In the Ghanaian capital of Accra lies the area Agbogbloshie. It is the country's largest waste dump, an end station for electrical and electronic waste, scrap cars and car parts. Here, people have created a way to survive with the help of waste.

For 19 years, Mohammed Aminu has worked on the extraction of metals such as copper, brass, iron and gold.

- I make an effort to pay for the education of my younger brothers. One of them reads at the university now, the other I sent to Europe four days ago so he is in Turkey now, he says.

"Everything depends on me"

4,000 people are estimated to work at Agbogbloshie, about 100,000 live in the associated slums. Since the 1990s, the garbage dump has grown uncontrolled, today it is an environmental disaster.

The content of lead in the air is seven times higher than the recommended limit values ​​in Norway. The ash and soil contain extremely high levels of copper, lead, zinc, tin and mercury. Recently, eggs were sampled in the area that showed high levels of carcinogenic dioxins - 200 times higher than the recommended levels in Europe.

- No one has a respirator or protective gloves. We are full of work. We know it will make us sick but you have no choice, says Mohammed Anwar, who also works at the dump.

Mohammed Anwar works with the fire, he has neither respirator nor protective gloves. Photo: NRK

Mohammed Aminu says that he works to provide for his own family with two children, his parents - and his seven sisters with families.

- Everything depends on me. I have to take care of them so that they may one day take care of me.

Big risks

Today, Mohammed Aminu has set up a small business, he is also responsible for several young men who come to Agbogbloshie to look for metals. He shows how to make holes in an object that contains lead, a substance that is very toxic to humans and the environment.

- We have to teach people here to work in a way that makes them able to cope.

Do people get sick here?

- Obvious. The smoke from the fires burning here, it's not good.

The report "Toxic scrap for sale" will be sent on Wednesday 16 October. You can watch it on SVT Play or 8pm in SVT1.