Ever wondered where your old TVs and computers go after you send them off for recycling or to charity?

Dateline’s Giovana Vitola has found a mountain of old electronic equipment dumped in what were previously picturesque wetlands in Ghana in West Africa.

The e-waste is poisoning everything around it, including the scavenging children burning the wires to try and get at the valuable metal inside. Meanwhile, acrid smoke drifts across the Agbogbloshie area of the capital Accra, and even the city’s main food market.

Stamped across the equipment, the names of companies and government bodies in countries like Australia, Britain and the United States, with many hard drives still intact and containing potentially confidential information.

Exporting hazardous waste to developing countries is strictly regulated, so how is some of it ending up in Ghana illegally? Do the companies disposing of it even know what’s happening? And what do the Australian authorities plan to do about it?

WATCH - Click to see Giovana Vitola's investigation, originally broadcast on 25th September 2011.

GOVERNMENT REACTION - In a follow-up story, broadcast on 2nd October 2011, Mark Davis calls the Australian Government to account in an interview with Senator Don Farrell, and asks Lee Bell of the National Toxics Network about the environmental impact.

BLOG - Giovana writes about her personal experience of how unpleasant it was filming at the toxic dump.

RADIO INTERVIEW - Listen to Giovana talk to SBS Radio's World News Australia about her story and what's happened as a result of her investigation.

RECYCLING INFO - Find out more about recycling your e-waste responsibly, plus follow the links to extra reading on the situation in Ghana.

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On air: 2nd October 2011