Socio-economic assessment and feasibility study on - Öko-Institut eV

<strong>Socio</strong>-<strong>economic</strong> <strong>assessment</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>feasibility</strong> <strong>study</strong>
on sustainable e-waste management in Ghana
August 2010
technologies are compared with best applicable recycling technologies 5 . Drawing from these
comparisons, feasible technologies <strong>and</strong> business models that have the potential to improve
the environmental, social <strong>and</strong> <strong>economic</strong> profile of the Ghanaian refurbishing <strong>and</strong> e-waste
recycling sector are explored. This also includes business models that are based on international
co-operations between Ghanaian recycling sector <strong>and</strong> recycling companies based
outside Ghana (chapter 4). From the findings, recommendations with a view to developing
new market niches for the Ghanaian e-waste recycling sector are formulated (chapter 5).
This approach is based on the consideration that the transformation from the current crude
recycling technologies into a more sustainable e-waste management needs a nucleus that
enables multiple gains for all actors involved in e-waste management. In particular, gains
must be realised for the informal sector that controls large segments of the Ghanaian
recycling activities <strong>and</strong> which will play a decisive role in implementing any future e-waste
management systems. Starting with such nucleus recycling activities, the general
acceptance of e-waste related policies <strong>and</strong> strategies could be enhanced. Furthermore, they
could help to pave the road for a sound <strong>and</strong> coherent national e-waste strategy in Ghana.
The project is funded by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning <strong>and</strong> the
Environment of the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s (VROM-Inspectorate) <strong>and</strong> the Dutch Association for the
Disposal of Metal <strong>and</strong> Electrical Products (NVMP) 6 . It is jointly coordinated by the
Environmental Protection Agency Ghana (EPA Ghana), VROM-Inspectorate, NVMP, the
Agbogbloshie Scrap Dealers Association, the Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for the
African Region (BCCC), Green Advocacy Ghana <strong>and</strong> Öko-Institut e.V. The field work, the
desk studies <strong>and</strong> analysis was conducted by Öko-Institut e.V <strong>and</strong> Green Advocacy Ghana.
The project was carried out in close co-operation with the E-waste Africa Project managed by
the Secretariat of the Basel Convention. The E-waste Africa Project contains following
components:
5 In the context of this <strong>study</strong>, the term “best applicable technology“ is used instead of the commonly used term
“best available technology (BAT)“. The term “best applicable technology“ means a technology, including skills
<strong>and</strong> processes, which is suited best to the Ghanaian context. In terms of conventional terminology
“technology“, “best applicable technology“ might not be equivalent to “best available technology (BAT)“.
6 In 2009, environmental enforcement authorities in the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s (VROM-Inspectorate) <strong>and</strong> Ghana (Ghana
Environment Protection Agency, Ghana Customs Excise <strong>and</strong> Preventive Service, <strong>and</strong> Ghana Ports <strong>and</strong>
Harbour Authority) signed a bilateral collaboration agreement, the so called Joint Working Programme, to
improve the control of transboundary movements of waste, to prevent the unwanted import of electric <strong>and</strong>
electronic waste <strong>and</strong> second h<strong>and</strong> equipment into Ghana, <strong>and</strong> to research the possibilities for setting up a
sustainable e-waste recycling system <strong>and</strong> thus, contribute to the decrease of environmental harm caused by
e-waste in Ghana. On the other h<strong>and</strong>, the NVMP is the implementation organisation that has been commissioned
by producers <strong>and</strong> importers to set up an efficient <strong>and</strong> effective collection <strong>and</strong> recycling system for
discarded electrical <strong>and</strong> electronic equipment <strong>and</strong> appliances in the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s. As the VROM-Inspectorate,
the NVMP <strong>and</strong> the Ghanaian authorities are already involved in the implementation of the SBC E-Waste Africa
Project, which also encompasses a socio-<strong>economic</strong> <strong>study</strong> of the e-waste sector in Nigeria, these authorities
have sought to use the similar methodology in Ghana in order to use the synergies between the two projects,
<strong>and</strong> draw comparative analysis between Nigeria <strong>and</strong> Ghana.
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