Environmentally friendly recycling and disposal of e-waste, Phase 2

active

Population growth, increasing prosperity, changing consumer habits and illegal imports are also leading to ever-increasing amounts of electrical and electronic waste (hereinafter referred to as e-waste) in Ghana. This e-waste is currently mainly processed by the informal sector, but sometimes using recycling and disposal practices that are extremely harmful to the environment and health (e.g. burning electrical cables). Environmentally, health- and socially acceptable recycling and disposal is therefore more expensive and is currently not competitive with the practices of the informal sector. The aim of the FC project is to ensure that harmful e-waste fractions from the informal sector are disposed of or recycled properly and to contribute to the development of a national recycling system for e-waste. In addition, the economic livelihood of the people involved in the informal sector is to be preserved. For this purpose, particularly harmful types of e-waste are purchased from collectors in the informal sector and then assigned to accredited Ghanaian recycling companies for proper recycling and disposal, which must comply with relevant environmental and social standards. The purchase takes place at a handover point that was financed in the first phase of the project. The target group includes people who work in the informal collection and recycling of e-waste in urban centers in Ghana and use this to secure their daily income. Another target group are private companies in the recycling and disposal industry in Ghana, which can expand their recycling capacities and are supported in this by training courses from GIZ. The project is being implemented by the Ghanaian Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.