The largest percentage of e-waste in Ghana is managed by the informal sector. While these activities generate value and provide livelihoods for the many workers, they also have an adverse effect on public health and the environment. Fundamental changes are therefore necessary and these changes must systematically address the informal sector.
The Government of Ghana thus passed the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act, 917, the Legal Instrument (LI) 2250 and the Technical Guidelines in 2016 and 2018 respectively.
Within the legal framework, informal workers are required to formalise by registering with state authorities and operate under the stipulations of the regulation (EPA and SRI). The requirements vary in accordance with the performed activities, i.e. collection, aggregation, dismantling, recycling and final disposal.
While there is consensus that sound e-waste management solutions must address and include the informal sector, practical inclusive strategies on formalisation in Ghana are scarce and there is no overarching, uniform approach for how formalisation of Ghana’s informal e-waste workforce will take place in practical terms.
Some scholars have argued that the pursuit of an entirely single formal managed system may be misdirected, as such a system is atypical in Ghana’s e-waste economy. Consequently, a more appropriate approach would include an integrative framing of a formal/informal sector in a continuum, that aims to alleviate the most significant existing drawbacks of the informal sector (Oteng-Ababio & Grant 2021).
CLICK ON THE LINK AND READ MORE: Policy Brief_No4_Pathways to formalisation in Ghana 30 12 2021
