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
3.4.2 Employment creation
August 2010
Refurbishing <strong>and</strong> repair sector has been found to be partially formalized, with expert opinion
suggesting that about 20% of all refurbishing/ repair businesses might be registered with the
formal bodies (Pwamang 2010). Collection, disassembly, material recovery <strong>and</strong> final disposal
take place almost only in the informal sector. This assumption was substantiated during the
interviews where none of the collectors <strong>and</strong> recyclers mentioned to pay any kind of taxes to
the local government. On the contrary, many refurbishing businesses suggested various
kinds of taxes <strong>and</strong> insurances that are paid regularly. Some examples include: Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), Value Added Tax (VAT), National Health Insurance (NHI), Social
Security <strong>and</strong> National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) <strong>and</strong> local revenue to the Accra Metropolitan
Authority (AMA).
Till date, there has not been any statistical information, either from government or nongovernment
sources, on the number of people employed in the refurbishing <strong>and</strong> e-waste
recycling sector in Ghana. The Labour Market Information System (LMIS) of the Ministry of
Employment <strong>and</strong> Social Welfare, <strong>and</strong> the Ministry of Trade <strong>and</strong> Industry of Ghana do not
provide any employment information based on business activity. Similarly, employment data
for Ghana was not specified in international information sources, such as the Data Bank of
the World Bank Group <strong>and</strong> the CIA – the World Factbook 23 . Therefore, it is necessary to
make certain assumptions based on interview data, expert opinion <strong>and</strong> other sources.
The most important cluster for e-waste recycling in Ghana is Agbogbloshie. According to the
information from the President of the Agbogbloshie Scrap Dealers Association, the
association boosts a membership of about 3,000. Expert opinion suggests that about half of
the members, i.e. about 1,500 people, focus primarily on e-waste, while the other half on
automobile dismantling <strong>and</strong> material recovery from automobiles. The primary socio-<strong>economic</strong>
data collection revealed that on an average 3–4 workers are employed by one recycler 24 .
Considering that Agbogbloshie builds the major part of the (informal) recycling industry in
Accra, <strong>and</strong> taking the number of people from Agbogbloshie Scrap Dealers Association as the
calculation basis, it can be assumed that about 4,500 to 6,000 people are involved in
informal e-waste collection <strong>and</strong> recycling operations in the region of Accra. Furthermore, on
the basis of the survey from the Ghana Demographic <strong>and</strong> Health Survey (GDHS) 2008,
which suggests the total fertility rate (TFR) of 4.0 for Ghana, it is assumed that about 27,000
to 36,000 people in Accra thrive partially or fully on e-waste collection <strong>and</strong> recycling
operations.
23
CIA – The World Factbook provides information on the total labour force in Ghana (10.33 Million in 2009,
estimated) of which about 15% works in the industrial sector (CIA 2010).
24
This also includes arrangements with collectors, who are given some money to go around the city to collect
<strong>and</strong> buy e-waste.
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