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

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August 2010
<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
As already indicated in chapter 4.1.4, all revenue <strong>and</strong> cost figures are indicative only. It has
to be kept in mind that the turnovers cannot be made by one individual recycler, but can only
be achieved by a complex <strong>and</strong> well organised recycling chain that includes local Ghanaian
recyclers as well as transport agencies <strong>and</strong> refineries located in other countries. Additionally,
the figures represent only the potential sales revenues, not taking into account labour <strong>and</strong>
transport costs, logistics, taxes <strong>and</strong> investment costs.
4.2.5 Environmental benefits
The proposed recycling of CRTs would especially lead to a better management of hazardous
substances. While pollutants contained in the printed wiring boards would be managed in
smelters abroad, the organic pollutants in the plastic fraction would be widely destroyed in
controlled incineration in cement kilns.
Controlled compaction of CRTs <strong>and</strong> the sound management of the trapped dust would
reduce emission of cadmium.
The lead, barium <strong>and</strong> strontium contained in the CRT-glass would also be better managed as
the material would be better protected from weathering <strong>and</strong> mechanical impacts; pre-supposing
proper disposal <strong>and</strong>/or proper use in construction material.
4.2.6 Health <strong>and</strong> safety issues <strong>and</strong> labour intensity
The main health <strong>and</strong> safety risk during CRT-recycling is the exposure to cadmium containing
dust emissions during breaking, cutting <strong>and</strong> compacting operations of CRT-glass. In addition,
risks of injury from imploding tubes, glass splinters <strong>and</strong> the h<strong>and</strong>ling of heavy devices have
to be considered.
In addition to the health <strong>and</strong> safety measure described in chapter 4.1.6, workers while
dismantling <strong>and</strong> compacting CRTs should wear respiration masks to avoid the inhalation of
dust, safety glasses to protect the eyes from splinters <strong>and</strong> further protective clothing like
robust gloves, protective shoes <strong>and</strong> aprons. Breaking, cutting <strong>and</strong> compaction operations of
CRT-glass should, in any case, only be carried out under fume hoods with an airflow that
fully evacuates the dust emission from the tubes. The outgoing airflow needs to be filtered to
avoid heavy metal emissions to the neighbourhood.
Although no precise data on the labour intensity of manual dismantling <strong>and</strong> compaction of
CRTs is available, it is estimated that per unit labour requirements are lower than with
desktop computers, as both, CRT-TVs <strong>and</strong> CRT-monitors feature less sub-components to be
dismantled. It is assumed that the manual dismantling <strong>and</strong> compaction steps require around
30 minutes per device.