Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has become a mainstay of the modern life in Ghana and is a vivid reflection of the accelerating pace of digitalization and the rise of a middle-income class; yet, short cycles in innovation and product lifetime paired with the increasing market penetration of (consumer) electronics also give rise to a darker side of modernity: rapidly growing amounts of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE or e-waste) which need to be disposed of and recycled responsibly.
Despite a dense network of informal e-waste collectors[1] found in all parts of the country collecting and buying e-waste and a growing number of formal recycling facilities[1], there are still major hurdles for efficient management of e-waste.
Among challenges such as low prices offered to owners of WEEE by informal collectors, high cost and inconvenience in sending e-waste to formal collection and recycling companies; a key challenge that has widely been mentioned and has frequently been observed by the E-MAGIN project is the lack of consumer awareness and appreciation of the value and hazards in e-waste.
This in turn leads to a large proportion of Ghanaian households, institutions and organisations not properly disposing of their e-waste. To successfully counteract this trend and raise public awareness of the proper disposal and treatment of e-waste, coordinated awareness campaigns are required. Click the link for the full article.
