Informal recyclers in Southeast Asian markets tackle mounting e-waste
HO CHI MINH CITY
Amidst the burgeoning sea of electronic waste growing at an unprecedented rate globally, markets in Southeast Asia, where informal recyclers salvage materials, have emerged as an unseen hub for recycling efforts.
One such market is Nhat Tao market in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City’s biggest informal recycling market, where Dam Chan Nguyen he usually saves computers with bulky monitors and heavy processors.
The central tenet of his work is that nothing goes to waste. “We utilize everything possible,” he said to AP.
The shop he works at is one of many in a market that spreads across several streets. Workers, many of them migrants from across Vietnam, repair or salvage items while others sell brand-new electronics alongside old, refurbished items.
The bustle is emblematic of a world that is producing more e-waste than ever— 62 million metric tons in 2022, projected to grow to 82 million metric tons by 2030, according to a report by UNITAR. Asian countries generate almost half of it.
Managing that waste is crucial. It fills up landfills at an alarming pace and dangerous chemicals like lead leak into the environment and harm human health. It also means missing out on recoverable resources worth $62 billion worth, according to the U.N. report in 2022.
Less than a quarter of electronic waste was properly collected and recycled. Some of the rest winds up in the hands of informal waste workers, like Nguyen, in different parts of the world. That’s especially the case in Southeast Asian nations where, the UN report found, none of the electronic waste is formally collected or recycled.
Informal waste workers like Nguyen can help solve a problem that plagues formal operations: Getting their hands on enough waste to make recycling cost-effective. They don't wait for people to bring it to them.
In Vietnam, for instance, waste workers fan out to people’s homes and collect waste that can be salvaged from bins at street corners. Others have established networks to acquire discarded electronics.
Formal recycling companies typically have certifications for dismantling and recycle electronic devices using sophisticated machinery. They also take more precautions for the health risks of e-waste, which can include toxic components.
Copper, gold, silver and even some tiny amounts of rare earth minerals can be recovered from recycling. Only about 1 percent of the demand for 17 of those key minerals is met through recycling, according to the U.N. report.
Bel, of the U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union, said he had no data on how much of those minerals are recovered via informal recycling.
Bel said that formal recyclers should try and work with informal workers to get access to more waste without hurting the livelihoods of the informal workers. That could have other advantages, like mitigating health risks for the informal workers, and ensuring that they don't cherry-pick the most valuable parts of any waste and dump the rest.
Such collaborations are already being attempted in some places. In the Indian capital of New Delhi, for instance, a company called EcoWork has built a co-working space where informal recyclers can dismantle their waste. They can use modern machines to do it more safely, and aggregating it means better prices while also saving on transportation costs. It also makes it easier for companies that want to buy the salvaged materials at a scale that isn’t possible otherwise.