E-waste in the twilight zone between crime and survival

This chapter examines the nature and extent of ‘e-waste’ trade and trafficking, drawing from the findings of two empirical studies about e-waste. One of these studies focusses on illegal trade in e-waste between the port of Antwerp, Belgium, and Accra, Ghana. A second study focusses on data from e-waste traders in Hong Kong. By comparing e-waste trafficking in these two different locations, the chapter seeks to illustrate, on the one hand, the importance of paying attention to locality when considering the global dimensions of the e-waste trade, and, on the other hand, to economic, political, and socio-cultural factors that influence the definitional processes, social organisation, and governance of e-waste. This chapter explores the wide range of characteristics of e-waste and its effects and uses, and contemplates the implications for control and prevention policy. It begins by examining current international and European legislation for e-waste (including a discussion of the definitional challenges that are inherent to it). Next, the chapter investigates the growing (informal) e-waste economy and illustrates the harm connected to the trafficking and informal recycling of e-waste. From here, the chapter highlights the social organisation of the trafficking and informal recycling of e-waste by focussing on the roles played by formal as well as informal actors in the e-waste economy. In the final section, the authors reflect on the complexities in implementing governance policy about e-waste and about the relevance of this topic for the field of green criminology.