E[co]work Enabling Safe, Inclusive and Circular Solutions for E-Waste Management in India

E[co]work provides an attractive alternative for informal workers in the e-waste dismantling sector of Delhi. An innovative shared space for dismantling e-waste safely and in conformity to regulations opened its doors in 2023.

E[co]Work

Growing amounts of electronic waste (e-waste) and the unsafe manner of recycling by informal workers in this sector pose substantial challenges around the world. Especially in India, given the large volume generated as well as the existing and upcoming regulation around e-waste necessitates new ways of addressing the topic to enable a safe and sustainable future, both for labourers involved as well as consumers and producers. E[co]work provides an attractive alternative for informal workers in the e-waste dismantling sector of Delhi. An innovative shared space for dismantling e-waste safely and in conformity to regulations. It allows for efficient recycling of end-of-life electric devices while providing multiple useful services such as marketplace connecting buyers and sellers as well as business support services such as insurance.

The world's e-waste challenges
Global e-waste volumes are expected to rise as the use of computers, mobile phones, and other electronics grows, alongside their rapid obsolescence. The Global E-waste Statistics Partnership (GESP) reported in 2020 that e-waste volumes increased by 21% in just five years leading up to 2019, when 53.6 million metric tonnes of e-waste were generated.[1] According to GESP, only 17.4% of e-waste produced in 2019 reached formal management or recycling facilities. The rest was landfilled, largely in low- or middle-income countries with a lack of regulation, or where regulation exists but is poorly enforced. There, e-waste is dismantled, recycled and reprocessed by informal workers in environments where infrastructure, training and environmental and health protection are non-existent or poorly addressed. In comparison, GESP reported that the 17.4% of e-waste that was collected and properly recycled prevented the release of 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents into the environment.

According to the WHO, informal workers, often including children and pregnant women, who recover valuable materials such as copper and gold, are at risk of exposure to over 1,000 pollutants, including lead, mercury, nickel, brominated flame retardants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Other children live, go to school and play near e-waste recycling centres where high concentrations of toxic chemicals, especially lead and mercury, endanger their health.[2]

Countries like India are major hubs for informal recycling in the world. Northeast Delhi is the national e-waste recycling hub. 90% of the country’s e-waste is informally recycled here. While illegal shipments of e-waste from the global north to the global south is a concerning issue, India itself is also the world’s 3rd largest producer of e-waste. A majority of India’s e-waste is dismantled by skilled but informal labour in need for a livelihood migrating from rural areas around Delhi.

Approaches that ensure environmentally sound management of e-waste and the health and safety of workers, their families and communities are needed, as well as monitoring of e-waste exposure and health impacts. In addition, better and safer re-use of materials and the production of more durable electronic and electrical equipment also play a crucial role.

Idea of E[co]work

Countries like India have large informal collection and recycling sectors, with Northeast Delhi being a major hub where e-waste from around the country is aggregated, traded and dismantled. In India, 95% of the approximately 4 million tonnes of e-waste generated per year is collected and processed by informal micro-entrepreneurs. Dr. Deepali Khetriwal is working on this topic since her master thesis at University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, where she studied International Economics. At that time, approximately 18 years ago, when it was a relatively new topic, the policy regulations were only in development. Since then, she worked with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and UN agencies on projects related to e-waste. In 2018, Deepali, Dea Wehrli and Michael Gasser met in Mumbai where the seeds of the E[co]work were sown. They recognized the problems of informal workers in the e-waste sector. Over the years, they had worked on various approaches to formalizing the informal sector, however these hadn’t been successful in changing the status quo. In their journey to understand pickers’ conditions, they realized that a different approach for effective interaction was needed. Not only through the necessary trainings, but also by finding a way how to support them with better technology and equipment, and crucially the legal space they could operate from. And so, the concept of safe co-working spaces and shared economy model for informal workers in the e-waste sector was born under the label of E[co]work.

 

_{Deepali Khetriwal, Dea Wehrli and Michael Gasser}

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

• The regulatory framework and enforcement matter – in the absence of punitive penalties/ business closure threat there is no attraction or incentive in formalization
• Transport and logistics outside the ‘comfort zone’ is a challenge – not only due to additional transport costs, but also from paperwork and unnecessary hassle/ scrutiny from tax officials
• Skills and labour are hard to find elsewhere
• Community dynamics – the power and security of community in a cluster is easy to underestimate
• Financial flexibility – having access to advances, cash payments on the spot and ‘paperless’ transactions as also the ability to sell fractions unrestricted

• Adapting framework conditions

•  Creating financial incentives

Leveraging EPR credits