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Abstract

The International Trade in Electronic Waste is becoming one of the fastest growing waste streams of the 21st century. The current stage of globalisation is characterised by intensified flows of people, goods, and information which has been further amplified by the advent of the digital sector. Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) has become indispensable in modern societies and demand in developing countries is constantly increasing as they attempt to bridge the digital divide and catch up with the rest of the world. This has led to an increase in the importation of EEE from areas such as the United States and Europe to countries primarily on the African and Asian continents. Research has shown that despite the opportunities EEE imports provide, the adverse effect has been the accumulation in defective EEE products within these imports. The resulting import stream creates an abundance in unusable products, which are effectively “waste” products. This leads to the terminology of Waste EEE (WEEE). Developed nations are engaging in a “Race to the Bottom” to find the cheapest dumping locations, often at the expense of the receiver nations. The lack of local port checks and weak domestic and international regulations provide easy opportunities for developed countries to take advantage of their ‘weaker’ counterparts. Developed nations understand developing countries rely on the importation of their secondhand goods and use that to their advantage. When managed incorrectly, the chemicals and materials contained in WEEE can have detrimental effects on the health of both populations and the environment. Low income countries have underdeveloped infrastructure and, historically, have left management and disposal primarily to the informal sector where waste is often managed through manual dismantling and open burning (for example, the Agbogbloshie Scrap Metal Yard in Ghana). Without adequate waste management infrastructure, developing countries are becoming a ‘pollution heaven’. This thesis aims to demonstrate that despite electronic equipment having the potential to bridge the “digital divide” it also runs the risk of creating a “digital dump”.

Course: International Development - BA - C28415

Date Deposited: 2022-02-17

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13813.html