More and more consumers, markets and countries have crossed over the ‘digital divide’. Discarded electronic products (waste electrical and electronic equipment also known as ‘e-waste’ or ‘WEEE’) have become one of the world’s fastest growing waste streams. Technology such as communications devices and electrical household appliances – large or small – contain toxic materials that can be dangerous to human health and the environment, needing special handling at end-of-life (Sthiannopkao and Wong, 2012; Wang and Ma, 2011). Besides the mountains of waste created by electrical and electronic goods (see Box 2 below), there is are additional problems. If not treated...

We start with the bigger picture and argue that, as a matter of principle, governments and policies for ‘greening’ must engage with informal markets where these exist. We outline some key characteristics of informal e-waste economies, introduce the debate on formal–informal hybrid operating models, and summarise key conceptual questions framing this paper. Our coverage of the diverse interpretations and extensive debates around green economy, informality and formal-informal linkages is necessarily brief. The reference section lists resources where further discussion can be found (particularly by IIED, ILO, and WIEGO).

Accelerated by the Rio+20 Summit the green economy has been widely...

Largely in response to environmental justice concerns by NGOs and the media, recent international regulation has focused on prohibiting movements of e-waste between developed and developing countries. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal was adopted in 1989. It was the first major international multilateral response to a series of public scandals in which developed-country industries were found to be dumping hazardous wastes, including e-waste, in countries where environmental awareness, regulations and enforcement mechanisms were lacking. The Basel Convention has been ratified by 182 countries, notably excluding the USA, the largest generator...

China is both the world’s largest exporter of EEE and importer of e-waste from the US, Europe and neighbouring Asian countries, including South Korea and Japan (Wang et al., 2013). It has a significant stake in both strengthening import controls and harnessing the rising mountains of e-waste generated by its rapidly growing consumer class. Its e-waste has largely been collected and recycled in the informal economy, driven by industrial demand for secondary materials and expanding rural markets for second-hand EEE. Despite legislative progress and noticeable increases in domestic and foreign investment in recycling, informal actors, particularly collectors, still dominate e-waste...

In processing imported e-waste, India is second only to China. In domestic generation, it is the world’s fifth-largest country, producing 1.7 million tonnes of waste electronics in 2014. Ten years ago, a study estimated that 70 per cent of e-waste processed or disposed of in India originated abroad (Sthiannopkao and Wong, 2012). Since then, some Indian and international efforts have been made to control the flows of imports into the country. But there is limited data on their success, and soaring domestic generation is likely to have a greater impact on the decrease in the overall share of imported e-waste...

This paper has explored issues of e-waste management in China and India, reflecting on current policy and practice across a spectrum of examples that encompass formal and informal sector players. In both countries, current thriving informal e-waste markets are inclusive of some of the poorest, but are not often green and can be exploitative; however, they are often more efficient compared to formal equivalents, particularly in the early stages of the supply chain – collecting, dismantling and refurbishing e-waste.

We have reflected on the challenges and opportunities for improved environmental and health outcomes across the e-waste sector and the degree...

Dealing with the polluting nature of e-waste management techniques is urgent – as is the need to recover resources from waste. But moves to cleaner, greener futures must be equitable, protecting the most vulnerable who might lose out and seeking synergies with measures towards poverty reduction and social protection.

Picking up on a number of the recommendations in the previous section, the following are practical steps to move towards improving e-waste models and supporting inclusive interpretation and implementation of policy that is already in place:

Identify and work with forward-thinking municipalities to experiment with new models, particularly those municipalities more...

Dealing with the polluting nature of e-waste management techniques is urgent – as is the need to recover resources from waste. But moves to cleaner, greener futures must be equitable, protecting the most vulnerable who might lose out and seeking synergies with measures towards poverty reduction and social protection.

Picking up on a number of the recommendations in the previous section, the following are practical steps to move towards improving e-waste models and supporting inclusive interpretation and implementation of policy that is already in place:

Identify and work with forward-thinking municipalities to experiment with new models, particularly those municipalities more...