GEOGRAPHIES OF URBAN MINING IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Abstract
The collection, recycling and sale of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) – or e-waste – are part of the so-called "urban mining" and have been occurring according to different technical-normative conditions, which impact the environment, society and the economy in different ways, especially in the urban spaces of the Global South. This article establishes a comparative analysis of urban mining in the Sao Paulo Macrometropolis (Brazil) and the Greater Accra Region (Ghana) through exploratory qualitative research. The results reveal a broad spectrum of actor-network arrangements established in the universe of e-waste, also confirming the relevance of political economy for understanding the technical and regulatory aspects of recycling in different geographical contexts.
Keywords: WEEE; Recycling; Collect; Commercialization; Comparative Urban Study.
References
AMANKWAA, E. Livelihoods in risk: exploring health and environmental implications of e-waste recycling as a livelihood strategy in Ghana. The Journal of Modern African Studies, v.51, n.4, p.551-575, 2013.
BACCINI, P.; BRUNNER, P. Metabolism of the Anthroposphere: Analysis, Evaluation, Design. The MIT Press, 2012.
BANCO MUNDIAL. Dados Abertos do Banco Mundial, 2020 [acesso em 5 de julho de 2020] https://data.worldbank.org
BAUDRILLARD, J. A sociedade de consumo. Rio de Janeiro: Elfos, 1995.
BOULDING, K. The economics of Coming Spaceship Earth, 1966 [accessed 2020 Jun 1] http://www.ub.edu/prometheus21/articulos/obsprometheus/BOULDING.pdf
BRASIL. Decreto 10.240 – Acordo Setorial para implementação de Sistema de Logística Reversa de Produtos Eletroeletrônicos e seus componentes de Uso Doméstico, 2020 [accessed 2020 Jun 1]. http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2020/decreto/D10240.htm
COSSU, R.; WILLIAMS, I. Urban mining: concepts, terminology, challenges. Waste Management, v.45, p:1-3, 2015.
FORTI, V.; BALDÉ, C. P.; KUEHR, R.; BEL, G. The Global E-waste Monitor 2020: Quantities, flows, and circular economy potential. United Nations University (UNU)/United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) – co-hosted SCYCLE Programme, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) & International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Bonn/Geneva/Rotterdam, 2020.
GEERTZ, C. The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1993.
GHANA. Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act, 2016, 2016 [accessed 2020 Jan 19]http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/sites/default/files/downloads/publications/Hazardous%20and%20Electronic%20Waste%20Control%20and%20Mgt%20Act%20917.pdf
GRANT, R. The 'Urban Mine' in Accra, Ghana. In: Mauch C (ed.). Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Politics and Culture of Waste. RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society, v.1, p.21– 29, 2016.
GSS – Ghana Statistical Service, 2020 [accessed 2020 Jun 20] https://statsghana.gov.gh
GUTBERLET, J. Recovering Resources – Recycling Citzenship: Urban Poverty Reduction in Latin America. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008.
HUAG, J. Critical overview of the (urban) informal economy in Ghana, 2014 [accessed 2019 Dec 10] https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/ghana/11297.pdf
HUANG, J.; NKRUMAH, P. N.; ANIM, D. O.; MENSAH, E. E-waste disposal effects on the aquatic environment: Accra, Ghana. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, v.229, p:19-34, 2014.
IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica. Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios (PNAD), 2020 [accessed 2020 May 10]. https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisti cas/sociais/populacao/9127-pesquisa-nacional-por-amostra- de-domicilios.html?=&t=o-que-e
KUMAR, A.; HOLUSZKO, M.; ESPINOSA, D. C. R. E-waste: An overview on generation, collection, legislatgion and recycling practices. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, v:122, p.32-42, 2017.
KURTZ, H. E. Scale frames and counter-scale frames: Constructing the problem of environmental injustice. Political Geography, v.22, p.887–916, 2003.
LATOUR, B. Reassembling the social: an introduction to actor network theory Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005.
LEDERER, J.; LANER, D.; FELLNER, J.; RECHEBERGER, H. A framework for the evaluation of anthropogenic resources based on natural resource evaluation concepts. In: Proceedings SUM 2014, 2nd Symposium on Urban Mining, Bergamo, Italy; IWWG – International Waste Working Group, 2014.
LENCIONI, S. A emergência de um novo fato urbano de caráter metropolitano. A particularidade de seu conteúdo sócio-espacial, seus limites regionais e sua interpretação teórica. Anais do x Encontro Nacional da anpur. cd-rom. Belo Horizonte (MG)., 2003.
LEPAWSKY, J.; MATHER, C. From beginnings and endings to boundaries and edges: rethinking circulation and exchange through electronic waste. Royal Geography Society v.43, n. 3, p:242-249, 2011.
LEVIDOW, L.; RAMAN, S. Metamorphosing waste as a resource: Scaling waste management by ecomodernist means. Geoforum, 2018 [accessed 2020 Apr 5] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.10.020
LOPES DOS SANTOS, K. The recycling of e-waste in the Industrialised Global South: the case of Sao Paulo Macrometropolis. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 2020 doi: 10.1080/19463138.2020.1790373
MAZON, M. Políticas de regulação e inovação: reciclagem de resíduos eletroeletrônicos. Tese (Doutorado em Política Científica e Tecnológica). Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2016.
MOORE, S. Garbage matters: concepts in new geographies of waste. Progress in Human Geography, v:36, p.780-799, 2012.
NGO, D. Waste and informal recycling activities in Hanoi, Vietnam. Third World Planning Review, v:3, p.405–429, 2001.
PEARCE, D.; TURNER, K. Economics of natural Resources and the Environment. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1990.
ROBINSON, B. E-waste: an assessment of global production and environmental impacts. Science of the Total Environment, v.408, p.183-191, 2009.
RUCEVSKA, I.; NELLEMANN, C.; ISARIN, N.; YANG, W.; LIU, N.; YU, K.; SANDNÆS, S.;, OLLEY, K.; MCCANN, H.; DEVIA, L.; BISSCHOP, L.; SOESILO, D.; SCHOOLMEESTER, T.; HENRIKSEN, R.; NILSEN, R. Waste Crime - Waste Risks: Gaps in Meeting the Global Waste Challenge. The UNEP Rapid Response Assessment. United Nations Environment Program and GRID Arendal, Nairobi, 2015.
SANTOS, K. L. Uma nova pobreza urbana: financeirização do consume e novos espaços da periferia de São Paulo. São Paulo: Alameda; FAPESP, 2017.
SHINKUMA, T.; HUONG, N. The flow of E-waste material in the Asian region and a reconsideration of international trade policies on E-waste. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, v:29, p: 25–31, 2009.
SHINKUMA, T.; MANAGI, S. On the effectiveness of a license scheme for E-waste recycling: The challenge of China and India. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, v.30, p.262–267, 2010.
SICULAR, D. Scavengers, Recyclers, and Solutions for Municipal Solid Waste Management in Indonesia. Berkeley, CA: Center for Southeast Asia Studies UC Berkeley, 1992.
SKOCPOL, T.; SOMMERS, M. The use of comparative history in macrosocial inquiry. Comp Stud Soc Hist, v.22, p.174–197, 1980.
SLATER, D.; ZIBLATT, D. The enduring indispensability of controlled comparison. Comparative Political Studies, v.46, 2013.
STORPER, M.; SCOTT, A. Current debates in urban theory: A critical assessment. Urban Studies, p.1-21, 2016.
TOWERS, G. Applying the political geography of scale: Grassroots strategies and environmental justice. Professional Geographer, v:52, p.23–36, 2000.
UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme. E-waste management manual, 2007 [accessed 2020 May 5] http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/Publications/spc/EWasteManual_Vol2.pdf
WALLERSTEIN, I. World-systems analysis: an introduction. Duke: Durham and London, 2006.
WILLIAM, R. Environmental injustice in America and its politics of scale. Political Geography, v.18, p.49–73, 1999.
BACCINI, P.; BRUNNER, P. Metabolism of the Anthroposphere: Analysis, Evaluation, Design. The MIT Press, 2012.
BANCO MUNDIAL. Dados Abertos do Banco Mundial, 2020 [acesso em 5 de julho de 2020] https://data.worldbank.org
BAUDRILLARD, J. A sociedade de consumo. Rio de Janeiro: Elfos, 1995.
BOULDING, K. The economics of Coming Spaceship Earth, 1966 [accessed 2020 Jun 1] http://www.ub.edu/prometheus21/articulos/obsprometheus/BOULDING.pdf
BRASIL. Decreto 10.240 – Acordo Setorial para implementação de Sistema de Logística Reversa de Produtos Eletroeletrônicos e seus componentes de Uso Doméstico, 2020 [accessed 2020 Jun 1]. http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2020/decreto/D10240.htm
COSSU, R.; WILLIAMS, I. Urban mining: concepts, terminology, challenges. Waste Management, v.45, p:1-3, 2015.
FORTI, V.; BALDÉ, C. P.; KUEHR, R.; BEL, G. The Global E-waste Monitor 2020: Quantities, flows, and circular economy potential. United Nations University (UNU)/United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) – co-hosted SCYCLE Programme, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) & International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Bonn/Geneva/Rotterdam, 2020.
GEERTZ, C. The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1993.
GHANA. Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act, 2016, 2016 [accessed 2020 Jan 19]http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/sites/default/files/downloads/publications/Hazardous%20and%20Electronic%20Waste%20Control%20and%20Mgt%20Act%20917.pdf
GRANT, R. The 'Urban Mine' in Accra, Ghana. In: Mauch C (ed.). Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Politics and Culture of Waste. RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society, v.1, p.21– 29, 2016.
GSS – Ghana Statistical Service, 2020 [accessed 2020 Jun 20] https://statsghana.gov.gh
GUTBERLET, J. Recovering Resources – Recycling Citzenship: Urban Poverty Reduction in Latin America. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008.
HUAG, J. Critical overview of the (urban) informal economy in Ghana, 2014 [accessed 2019 Dec 10] https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/ghana/11297.pdf
HUANG, J.; NKRUMAH, P. N.; ANIM, D. O.; MENSAH, E. E-waste disposal effects on the aquatic environment: Accra, Ghana. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, v.229, p:19-34, 2014.
IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica. Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios (PNAD), 2020 [accessed 2020 May 10]. https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisti cas/sociais/populacao/9127-pesquisa-nacional-por-amostra- de-domicilios.html?=&t=o-que-e
KUMAR, A.; HOLUSZKO, M.; ESPINOSA, D. C. R. E-waste: An overview on generation, collection, legislatgion and recycling practices. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, v:122, p.32-42, 2017.
KURTZ, H. E. Scale frames and counter-scale frames: Constructing the problem of environmental injustice. Political Geography, v.22, p.887–916, 2003.
LATOUR, B. Reassembling the social: an introduction to actor network theory Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005.
LEDERER, J.; LANER, D.; FELLNER, J.; RECHEBERGER, H. A framework for the evaluation of anthropogenic resources based on natural resource evaluation concepts. In: Proceedings SUM 2014, 2nd Symposium on Urban Mining, Bergamo, Italy; IWWG – International Waste Working Group, 2014.
LENCIONI, S. A emergência de um novo fato urbano de caráter metropolitano. A particularidade de seu conteúdo sócio-espacial, seus limites regionais e sua interpretação teórica. Anais do x Encontro Nacional da anpur. cd-rom. Belo Horizonte (MG)., 2003.
LEPAWSKY, J.; MATHER, C. From beginnings and endings to boundaries and edges: rethinking circulation and exchange through electronic waste. Royal Geography Society v.43, n. 3, p:242-249, 2011.
LEVIDOW, L.; RAMAN, S. Metamorphosing waste as a resource: Scaling waste management by ecomodernist means. Geoforum, 2018 [accessed 2020 Apr 5] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.10.020
LOPES DOS SANTOS, K. The recycling of e-waste in the Industrialised Global South: the case of Sao Paulo Macrometropolis. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 2020 doi: 10.1080/19463138.2020.1790373
MAZON, M. Políticas de regulação e inovação: reciclagem de resíduos eletroeletrônicos. Tese (Doutorado em Política Científica e Tecnológica). Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2016.
MOORE, S. Garbage matters: concepts in new geographies of waste. Progress in Human Geography, v:36, p.780-799, 2012.
NGO, D. Waste and informal recycling activities in Hanoi, Vietnam. Third World Planning Review, v:3, p.405–429, 2001.
PEARCE, D.; TURNER, K. Economics of natural Resources and the Environment. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1990.
ROBINSON, B. E-waste: an assessment of global production and environmental impacts. Science of the Total Environment, v.408, p.183-191, 2009.
RUCEVSKA, I.; NELLEMANN, C.; ISARIN, N.; YANG, W.; LIU, N.; YU, K.; SANDNÆS, S.;, OLLEY, K.; MCCANN, H.; DEVIA, L.; BISSCHOP, L.; SOESILO, D.; SCHOOLMEESTER, T.; HENRIKSEN, R.; NILSEN, R. Waste Crime - Waste Risks: Gaps in Meeting the Global Waste Challenge. The UNEP Rapid Response Assessment. United Nations Environment Program and GRID Arendal, Nairobi, 2015.
SANTOS, K. L. Uma nova pobreza urbana: financeirização do consume e novos espaços da periferia de São Paulo. São Paulo: Alameda; FAPESP, 2017.
SHINKUMA, T.; HUONG, N. The flow of E-waste material in the Asian region and a reconsideration of international trade policies on E-waste. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, v:29, p: 25–31, 2009.
SHINKUMA, T.; MANAGI, S. On the effectiveness of a license scheme for E-waste recycling: The challenge of China and India. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, v.30, p.262–267, 2010.
SICULAR, D. Scavengers, Recyclers, and Solutions for Municipal Solid Waste Management in Indonesia. Berkeley, CA: Center for Southeast Asia Studies UC Berkeley, 1992.
SKOCPOL, T.; SOMMERS, M. The use of comparative history in macrosocial inquiry. Comp Stud Soc Hist, v.22, p.174–197, 1980.
SLATER, D.; ZIBLATT, D. The enduring indispensability of controlled comparison. Comparative Political Studies, v.46, 2013.
STORPER, M.; SCOTT, A. Current debates in urban theory: A critical assessment. Urban Studies, p.1-21, 2016.
TOWERS, G. Applying the political geography of scale: Grassroots strategies and environmental justice. Professional Geographer, v:52, p.23–36, 2000.
UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme. E-waste management manual, 2007 [accessed 2020 May 5] http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/Publications/spc/EWasteManual_Vol2.pdf
WALLERSTEIN, I. World-systems analysis: an introduction. Duke: Durham and London, 2006.
WILLIAM, R. Environmental injustice in America and its politics of scale. Political Geography, v.18, p.49–73, 1999.
Published
22/06/2021
How to Cite
LOPES DOS SANTOS, Kaue; JACOBI, Pedro Roberto.
GEOGRAPHIES OF URBAN MINING IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH.
Mercator, Fortaleza, v. 20, june 2021.
ISSN 1984-2201.
Available at: <http://www.mercator.ufc.br/mercator/article/view/e20021>. Date accessed: 25 mar. 2025.
doi: https://doi.org/10.4215/rm2021.e20021.
Issue
Section
ARTICLES
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant MERCATOR the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows the sharing of the work with recognition of the authorship of the work and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are authorized to sign additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g., publish in an institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their personal page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this can generate productive changes as well as increase the impact and citation of the published work (see The Effect of Free Access).
- Authors are responsible for the content of the manuscript published in the journal.
