Electronic waste recycling
Electronic waste recycling
Business Model Description
Establish and operate recycling facility plants for e-waste repurposing.
Expected Impact
Reduce environmental impact of e-waste and foster a circular economy for electronic products.
How is this information gathered?
Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.
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Country & Regions
- Ghana: Greater Accra
- Ghana: Ashanti
- Ghana: Western Region
Sector Classification
Infrastructure
Development need
SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation and SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure are reported to be major challenges and only moderately improving. Two out of five SDG 6 indicators and three out of six SDG 9 indicators are marked as major challenges.(II)
Policy priority
The government aims to increase the availability of water and sanitation. By 2021 Ghana wants basic water access to be over 80%, safely managed water access to be 36%, improved liquid waste management to be 30% and solid waste management to be 80%.(III) Roads are also a high priority with the target of 50% of good quality roads, 75,000 km of roads and over 67% of road maintained.(III) The government created the enabling environment for house construction, making the sector more attractive for investors.(IV) The Medium-Term Plan III forecasts the number of houses to reach 3.6 million in 2021.(III)
Investment opportunities
The country’s infrastructure sector recorded significant growth the past 20 years, which supported Ghana’s development. With a booming urban population (3.3% growth in 2019) (I), there are opportunities for the private sector to invest in housing, water and sanitation, roads and waste management.
Key bottlenecks
The main sector challenges include: liquidity problems for some ongoing projects, transmission problems, a lack of conservation, a weak regulatory environment, a lack of patient capital, difficult access to land, a lack of related services and the high cost of materials.
Waste Management
Pipeline Opportunity
Electronic waste recycling
Establish and operate recycling facility plants for e-waste repurposing.
Business Case
Market Size and Environment
USD 100 million - USD 1 billion
Ghana generates approximately 129,000 tons of e-waste annually.
Ghana’s e-waste activities generate between USD 105 million and USD 268 million every year.(25)
Ghana generates approximately 129,000 tons of e-waste each year.(7)
Ghana's imports around approximately 40,000 tons of e-waste each year.(8)
Indicative Return
15% - 20%
The benchmark internal rate of return for waste management is estimated to range from 12% to 18%.(18)
Investment Timeframe
Medium Term (5–10 years)
The investment timeframe depends on the recycling method: capital-intensive mechanical shredding or labour-intensive manual dismantling. These different methods require significantly different initial capital expenditure and time needed to construct facilities.(26)
Market Risks & Scale Obstacles
Capital - CapEx Intensive
Business - Supply Chain Constraints
Impact Case
Sustainable Development Need
E-waste collection and recycling in Ghana is mostly informal, with small-scale collectors offering households cash for e-waste. As a result, e-waste disposal does not comply with regulations and causes significant pollution.(3)
Approximately 17,000 people die from exposure to air pollution annually in Ghana. It is one of the main causes of ill health and death in the country, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, among others.(5)
Gender & Marginalisation
In 2018, 30.4% of Ghana's urban population lived in informal settlements.(6) These people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of poor air quality caused by vehicular emissions, biomass burning, e-waste and construction.(5)
Expected Development Outcome
Improved quality of air, land and water due to reduced pollution; reduced incidence of diseases caused by pollution; and improved wellbeing of communities
Reduced poverty due to creation of formal, well-paying job opportunities for poor populations living close to e-waste sites
Improved trade balance, as domestic production from recycling reduces the need to import raw materials
Gender & Marginalisation
Reduced exposure to harmful practices and increased job opportunities, especially for the lowest income groups
Primary SDGs addressed
3.9.1 Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution
3.9.2 Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)
3.9.3 Mortality rate attributed to unintentional poisoning
11.6.1 Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities
12.5.1 National recycling rate, tons of material recycled
Secondary SDGs addressed
Directly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Planet
Corporates
Indirectly impacted stakeholders
Corporates
Public sector
Outcome Risks
E-waste contains a broad variety of toxic substances such as beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, pentabromophenol etc. Improper recycling of e-waste poses a greater risk to human health and the environment than disposal in landfills.(27)
Persistent, bioaccumulative toxins can move through the environment. They can be deposited on land or in water ecosystems thousands of kilometers from their sources, impacting entire ecosystems.(28)
Harmful chemicals can adversely affect the health of humans and animals, either through the food chain or occupational exposure (inhaling fumes or dust).(29)
Impact Risks
N/A
Impact Classification
What
Upscaling collection and recycling of e-waste to produce recycled products will positively impact the natural environment and therefore the health of people.
Who
Urban populations living close to e-waste dumpsites as well as e-waste collectors and the natural environment who are negatively impacted due to harmful pollution and poor employment conditions.
Risk
High initial investment costs, low citizens awareness and limited capacities of waste managers and authorities may hinder the project. Potential environmental impacts should also be addressed.
Impact Thesis
Reduce environmental impact of e-waste and foster a circular economy for electronic products.
Enabling Environment
Policy Environment
Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework: An Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All (First Step) 2018-2021: This policy identifies waste management and recycling as top priorities for Ghana's sustainable development.(14)
Sector Strategic Medium-Term Development Plan 2018-2021: This plan identifies the need to improve current poor waste disposal systems and invest in waste management.(15)
Ghana National Climate Change Policy: This policy provides a list of priority industries for mitigating the effects of climate change and outlines the scope of government support.(16)
Financial Environment
Fiscal incentives: Imports of agricultural, and industrial plant, machinery and equipment are exempt from custom tax.(12) Listed companies are granted a preferential corporate tax rate of 25%, while newly listed companies are granted a 25% corporate tax rate for the first 3 years. (12) Manufacturers headquartered in regional capitals also receive a number of location incentives (tax rebate). (12) Waste processors also receive a tax holiday of 7 years with 1% of chargeable income.(13)
Regulatory Environment
The Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act 2016 (Act 917): This Act lists prohibited actions; regulates importation and exportation of waste; and specifies requirements for distributors, retailers and wholesalers of e-waste, and provisions for establishing e-waste recycling plants.(9)
Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Regulations (LI 2250): These regulations regulate all aspects of collecting, transporting and treating e-waste.(1)
Technical Guidelines on Environmentally Sound E-Waste Management 2018: These guidelines provide guiding principles for collectors, collection centers, transporters, treatment facilities, as well as final disposal.(10)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the registering body for producers and importers of electronics.(1)
The Ministry of Trade and Industry provides regulations related to promoting investment, technology and infrastructure.(11)
Marketplace Participants
Private Sector
SGS Renovo, Pure Earth, Ghana National Cleaner Production Centre (GNCPC), City Waste Recycling (CWR)
Government
Ministry of Environment Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Multilaterals
African Development Bank, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Global Alliance for Health and Pollution, European Commission, World Bank
Non-Profit
German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Target Locations
Ghana: Greater Accra
Ghana: Ashanti
Ghana: Western Region
References
- (I) World Bank database. https://data.worldbank.org/ (II) Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., Woelm, F. 2020. The Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19. Sustainable Development Report 2020. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (III) Republic of Ghana (2017). Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework: An Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All (First Step) 2018-2021. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/new-ndpc-static1/CACHES/PUBLICATIONS/2018/08/23/Medium-term+Policy+Framework-Final+June+2018.pdf (IV) Centre for Affordable Finance in Africa (2019). Africa Housing Finance Yearbook 2019 - Ghana Country Profile. http://housingfinanceafrica.org/app/uploads/V14-GHANA-PROFILEKF-2.pdf