SS36 Electronic waste (E-waste) and informal work in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

Global waste from used electrical and electronic equipment, or e-waste, is projected to increase from 53.6 million tons (MT) in 2019 to 74.7MT by 2030. Informal workers in emerging LMICs perform the majority of e-waste processing. This session calls attention to the unique contextual factors and occupational health effects related to informal work, using examples and lessons from research on unstructured e-waste processing in Ghana by the West Africa-Michigan CHARTER II for GEOHealth Consortium. Spanning occupational and environmental health perspectives, this session emphasizes the need for national, international and inter-professional collaborations to address health and safety among vulnerable workers in the informal sector.