Abstract
The narrative on global shipments of used electronic devices to Africa is incomplete. It focuses on end-of-life device dumping and on health and environmental hazards for local populations. Utilizing fieldwork and interviews in Accra, Ghana, with e-waste processors, scrap recyclers and exporters, local industries, and the Ghana Customs Excise and Preventive Service officials, as well as analysis of customs trade data, Grant and Oteng-Ababio uncover the development of informal urban mining of valuable metals from used electronics, a practice that calls into question conventional city-mine, consumption-production, and waste-resource spatial oppositions. Urban mining is an important heuristic concept for understanding Accra’s place within the global political economy and for creating and implementing policies for improving the livelihoods of informal e-waste workers in Ghana and elsewhere.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2-20 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Africa Today |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2016 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
The global transformation of materials and the emergence of informal urban mining in Accra, Ghana. / Grant, Richard; Oteng-Ababio, Martin.
In: Africa Today, Vol. 62, No. 4, 01.06.2016, p. 2-20.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The global transformation of materials and the emergence of informal urban mining in Accra, Ghana
AU - Grant, Richard
AU - Oteng-Ababio, Martin
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - The narrative on global shipments of used electronic devices to Africa is incomplete. It focuses on end-of-life device dumping and on health and environmental hazards for local populations. Utilizing fieldwork and interviews in Accra, Ghana, with e-waste processors, scrap recyclers and exporters, local industries, and the Ghana Customs Excise and Preventive Service officials, as well as analysis of customs trade data, Grant and Oteng-Ababio uncover the development of informal urban mining of valuable metals from used electronics, a practice that calls into question conventional city-mine, consumption-production, and waste-resource spatial oppositions. Urban mining is an important heuristic concept for understanding Accra’s place within the global political economy and for creating and implementing policies for improving the livelihoods of informal e-waste workers in Ghana and elsewhere.
AB - The narrative on global shipments of used electronic devices to Africa is incomplete. It focuses on end-of-life device dumping and on health and environmental hazards for local populations. Utilizing fieldwork and interviews in Accra, Ghana, with e-waste processors, scrap recyclers and exporters, local industries, and the Ghana Customs Excise and Preventive Service officials, as well as analysis of customs trade data, Grant and Oteng-Ababio uncover the development of informal urban mining of valuable metals from used electronics, a practice that calls into question conventional city-mine, consumption-production, and waste-resource spatial oppositions. Urban mining is an important heuristic concept for understanding Accra’s place within the global political economy and for creating and implementing policies for improving the livelihoods of informal e-waste workers in Ghana and elsewhere.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84973563170&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84973563170&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2979/africatoday.62.4.01
DO - 10.2979/africatoday.62.4.01
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84973563170
VL - 62
SP - 2
EP - 20
JO - Africa Today
JF - Africa Today
SN - 0001-9887
IS - 4
ER -