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
Thirdly, the mechanical pre-processing of cables would significantly reduce the emissions of
persistent organic pollutants as it would offer an alternative to the current practice of cable
burning.
4.1.6 Health <strong>and</strong> safety issues <strong>and</strong> labour intensity
Although desktop computers contain quite a variety of hazardous substances, none of these
substances is present as liquid or gas. This circumstance makes the proper transport <strong>and</strong>
pre-processing of waste desktop computers quite manageable compared to other e-waste
types. The most important aspect to avoid human <strong>and</strong> environmental contamination is to
minimise the generation of dust <strong>and</strong> to avoid unsound management practices such as
uncontrolled melting or burning operations. As the proposed recycling system primarily
foresees manual collection <strong>and</strong> pre-treatment <strong>and</strong> no melting or burning operations, the
health <strong>and</strong> safety risks are manageable. Varin & Roinat (2008) provide a good overview on
the recommended health <strong>and</strong> safety measures of manual pre-processing operations. The
following paragraph is therefore entirely copied from this work:
“Even though manual dismantling operations generate few contaminants likely to
be absorbed by the respiratory route, dismantling technicians are advised to wear
masks. Contamination happens mostly indirectly, by ingestion of contaminants
present on h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> cloths. Employees must therefore respect the following
minimum safety instructions:
� Wear protection suits, or regularly clean these suits by washing separately;
� Do not eat, drink or smoke in the workshops;
� Wash h<strong>and</strong>s before meals <strong>and</strong> snacks;
� Avoid nail biting <strong>and</strong> brush one’s nails regularly;
� Vacuum the premises to avoid dust accumulation.”
In addition, the mechanical pre-processing of cables requires special health <strong>and</strong> safety
training to avoid injuries during operation. Furthermore, workers have to be trained to keep
the machinery in an operation mode that prevents the emission of dust <strong>and</strong> the formation of
dioxins.
In terms of labour intensity, the proposed manual pre-processing is quite labour intensive.
The time requirements for workers have been measured by Gmünder (2007) in China <strong>and</strong> by
Salhofer & Spitzbart (2009) in Germany. While in the Chinese case, 83 working hours were
needed to disassemble 1 t of desktop computers, 32 the German case required 7.5 hours for
the same amount. Thereby it has to be noted that in the Chinese case, workers used simple
tools <strong>and</strong> only partly electric screwdrivers <strong>and</strong> were engaged in very deep dismantling
32 1 t of desktop computers roughly equals 100 devices.
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