Retrieving Resources from E-Waste: Living Income for Informal E-waste Pickers in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the livelihood and income of waste pickers in Ghana. As Ghana imports vast amounts of (e-)waste, an industry has emerged around waste picking. This thesis is concerned with the bottom rung of the e-waste chain, the waste pickers, as they often live in extreme poverty, specifically researching ways in which the Dutch phone company Fairphone can help improve the waste pickers' income to a living income level. Using a living income framework, the thesis attempts to answer the following research question: “How can Fairphone enable waste pickers to earn a living income?”. The question is answered by conducting fieldwork interviews with waste pickers in Ghana, a literature review and interviews with key informants on e-waste. The thesis shows that the main challenges waste pickers face are that there is not enough work, they do not earn enough, the income they receive is very volatile, and they have to walk very long distances to collect scraps. The thesis provides recommendations to actors on three levels, to private actors, at the public national level and at the public international level. The private actor recommendations focus on capacity building through offering training, providing technical equipment and setting up a capital fund, and by giving technical input for government legislation. Recommendations to the national level are setting up a formal/informal hybrid organisation of waste management, engaging waste pickers in legislations and encouraging waste pickers associations. Recommendations to international level organisations are improving the Extended Producer Responsibility framework, establishing a clear definition of e-waste; and reducing the waste streams to the Global South.