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
waste itself, unless they are themselves involved in dismantling <strong>and</strong> metal recovery process
as well. However, a job of an informal e-waste collector involves about 10–12 hours of pulling
of h<strong>and</strong>carts, made from boards <strong>and</strong> old car axles, in order to transport obsolete EEE from ewaste
shops <strong>and</strong> warehouses from different parts of the city to the dismantling site or scrap
yard. Often such a rigorous activity leads to spinal injuries <strong>and</strong> back pains due to lifting <strong>and</strong>
transportation of heavy appliances, <strong>and</strong> consequently to a relatively short career spanning
not more than 6–7 years.
Similarly, the magnitude of health risks faced by refurbishers <strong>and</strong> repairers of EEE is much
smaller compared to recyclers. Refurbishers <strong>and</strong> repairers make use of simple tools, such as
screwdrivers, pliers, electrical soldering machines, hammer etc. either in order to replace a
defective part with a new one or to repair the existing parts to generate a saleable good.
Often, refurbishing <strong>and</strong> repairing activities make use of natural daylight <strong>and</strong> aeration for the
most part of the operation.
Photo 3 Refurbishing activity in a shop in Accra (Source: Öko-Institut 2010)
Apart from that, many refurbishers reported the inhalation of fumes during electrical soldering
operations as a major health threat. As metallic lead had been used in electrical solder,
commonly as an alloy with tin, it is estimated that refurbishers <strong>and</strong> repairers could also suffer
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