The potential of cooperative enterprises in e-waste management

A new report by the cooperatives unit of the International Labour Organization (ILO Coop), highlights the growing problem of electronic waste.  Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) is currently the fastest growing waste stream, and it is hazardous, complex and costly to treat. Adequate e-waste recycling can contribute to an environmentally sustainable economy, but that requires immediate improvements in job quality and incomes.

Most of the world’s e-waste ends up in developing countries to be treated by informal workers. These workers are vulnerable to the health and environmental risks of e-waste, have little power to negotiate their working conditions and end up recovering a fraction of the recyclable material while contaminating themselves and the poor communities where informal e-waste recycling takes place.

Improving occupational safety and health, upgrading skills, increasing workers’ incomes to fair and decent levels, and promoting the formalization of informal workers in this sector – along with other decent work strategies – is needed to promote sustainable development and better jobs in this growing sector.

To read the full report, please click here

SOURCE & COPYRIGHT: ILO