Reduced climate footprint through improved, increased and energy efficient recycling of metals and e-scrap in Ghana

Transcription

1 Reduced climate footprint through improved, increased and energy efficient recycling of metals and e-scrap in Ghana

2 A project financially supported by NCF - the Nordic Climate Facility funded by NDF the Nordic Development Fund and administered by NEFCO the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation

3 Source: Boliden Background 1 Extraction of metals from scrap (secondary source) requires much less energy than from virgin ores (primary source) kwh/t Cu Primary Secondary Process Ore Scrap Mine- concentration Smelting Sum

4 and therefore Recycling of e-waste reduces climate footprint t CO2/t Cu Primary Secondary Process Ore Scrap Mine- concentration Smelting Sum Source: Boliden

5 Background 2 Huge volumes of e-waste are being exported, legally and illegally (as second hand equipment) to developing countries, including to Ghana Treatment of e-waste is done by poor people in unsustainable ways by for ex. burning electrical cables Current practices pollutes land, water and air and seriously affect human health and safety It is usually the poorest of the poor who try make a living for the day. Also many children.

6 Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana

7 Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana

8 Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana

9 Project Main Objectives Reduced climate footprint - Huge difference in energy consumption to extract minerals/metals from scrap vs virgin ores - Increased volumes of scrap currently recovered - Recover other scrap components (circuit boards, plastics, ) Poverty alleviation - Improved working (incl. H&S) conditions and increased incomes

10 Climate change Extraction of metals from secondary source saves enormous amounts of energy compared to extraction from primary source Metal Primary (kton CO 2 / 100,000 ton) Secondary (kton CO 2 / 100,000 ton) Saving (kton CO 2 / 100,000 ton) Saving (%) Al Cu Fe Pb Ni Sn Zn Source: Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) of the Imperial College London Savings are even greater for precious and rare earth metals Due to energy content of e-waste (mainly plastics) recycling of e-waste can generate surplus energy

11 Poverty alleviation Agbogbloshie Accra: 3000 scrap workers Twice as many dependents Boys as young as 8-15 yrs 3-5 USD/day Families in north Ghana Total Ghana: 30,000 people

12 Main Implementing Partners Raw Materials Group, RMG, Sweden Environment Protection Agency, EPA, Ghana GreenAdvocacy, Ghana Ericsson AB, & Boliden AB, Sweden and Dell, Hewlett Packard, Sony Mobile, Datech Technologies and Nokia

13 Time schdule 2 + years implementation period Contract signing November 2010 Practical Start March 2011 Completion June 2013

14 Main project components Developing and introducing sustainable business models Training Awareness raising Policy Reform Establishing a Training center Identification of replication possibilities Poverty mitigation Estimation of climate change impact

15 Sustainable business models Improved methods - Alternative ways to recover copper from cables - Training - Protection clothes - Proper tools - Inclusive of difficult components Increased volumes - Improved collection system New /additional material (Today: Fe, Al, Cu) - Collection of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) Mobile phone auction system

16 Sustainable business models Who cares about these CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes)? Today: Strip off the Cu-coil Crush the glass with a stone Throw in lagoon Must build a system where the valuable pays for the non valuable

17 Train the trainers On site workshops Training

18 Study tours Training

19 Awareness raising Media campaigns Debate producer responsibility E-waste web site Difficult without on the ground solution Mobilize international and local private sector - ICT producers, mobile phone operators - Organize ICT association

20 E-waste web site

21 Policy Reform Industry position paper on Hazardous Waste Control Bill, early 2011 Public consultations thoughout 2011

22 East Legon, Accra Training Center Mobile system: 2 nos 40 containers + 1no 20 container One 40 container donated by Maersk Line, Denmark/Ghana Lap top computers donated by Datec Technologies, UK Implementation assistance and maintanence by GA90 Recycling, Finland/Ghana Available for training by multiple stakeholders

23 Training Center

24 Replication possibilities There is great need to replicate all components of the project all over Africa. The results of replication efforts could be improved if: E-waste specific environmental legislation and policies are introduced and enforced There is political will and Government sticks to and maintains its regulatory and policy enforcement role Business is the drive and it is left to the private sector to manage the business Nationwide awareness campaigns are introduced All stakeholders acknowledge the long term need to transform informal activities to formal

25 Estimation of climate change impact Condition: Weighing processed material (Al, Cu, Fe) before and after (as a result of project interventions) Challenges: - Informal sector workers reluctant to measure and provide data - Weak support from local authorities Possible however to make estimate due to increase in circuit board collection

26 Climate change impact Direct net result at Agbogbloshie Accra: An additional mix of 500kg circuit boards collected per week: 25 tonnes/year Sample analysed at Boliden Content of most significant metals Metal Content (g/tonne) Cu 206x10 3 Au 187 Ag 588

27 Climate change impact By increased collection and recovery of printed circuit boards at Agbogbloshie alone, approx. 100 tonnes of CO2eqv are saved every year Metal Recovered volume (kg/year) Savings range (kgco2/kg metal) Cu ; av Ag 4, ; av Au 14, ; no av CO2 savings (tonnes/year) Total

28 Climate change impact Without access to specific data as a result of interventions by the Project, an effort has been made to estimate climate change impact from improved e-waste recycling in Ghana and in Africa as a whole all based on estimated mass flows in some other countries in Africa, including from Nigeria Assumption: e-waste volumes are proportional to population and living standard (GDP/capita)

29 Climate change impact Theoretical CO2eqv/a savings potential in Accra, Ghana and Africa now and in 5 years from recycling of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and for Al, Cu and Fe Location Direct CO2 reductions related to recovery of PCBs Direct CO2 reduction potentioal of PCBs in 5 years Additional potential savings from recovery of Fe, Al & Cu Savings potential, immediate disposal, no dumping Total savings potential in 5 years Accra , , ,000 Ghana , , ,000 Africa 3-5 million 7-10 million million All numbers in tonnes/year

30 Poverty mitigation Establishing relation with and supporting (through local corporate partners) two NGOs focusing on helping children at and around Agbogbloshie Women seems to be engaged in supporting activities such as selling water and food to men and boys which are directly engaged in collection and pre-processing of e-waste Metal prices paid to e-crap workers in Ghana are in the order of 10% of world market prices Approx 200 workers may have increased daily incomes by USD/day due to increased collection of PCBs Approx workers have been trained to better understand values of various e-waste components as well as what components pose high risks to environment and human health

31 Lessons learned Political will is an absolute necessity Relevant law & policies provide a necessary platform to avoid cherry-picking and provide for an inclusive system but Improvements can still be made Any law is toothless without enforcement and Private sector needs to be part of the solution

32 Lessons learned continued Informal sector can not be part of a long term sustainable solution Support up to standard local and foreign recycling companies to invest Multistakeholder approach is a must The need for African examples