Portrayals in Print: Media Depictions of the Informal Sector’s Involvement in Managing E-Waste in India

Abstract

For over a decade, media stories have exposed health and environmental harm caused by informal electronics recycling in less industrialized countries. Greater awareness of these risks helped inform regulations across the globe and the development of recycling standards. Yet, media depictions also shape public perceptions of informal workers and their role in handling electronic waste, or e-waste. This paper examines how mainstream print media describes the informal sector's involvement in handling e-waste in India, especially as policymakers and other stakeholders currently grapple with how to integrate informal workers into formal, more transparent e-waste management schemes. This study evaluates depictions of the informal sector in print articles from both non-Indian and Indian news media outlets, employing controversy mapping principles and digital research tools. Findings may help inform stakeholder agendas seeking to influence public awareness on how to integrate informal workers into viable e-waste management solutions. Subsequent research based on these results could also help stakeholders understand the actors and networks that shape such media depictions. Results from the dataset show that most news articles describe informal workers negatively or problematically due to activities causing health risks and environmental damage, but usually do not discern which activities in the value chain (e.g., collection, dismantling, metals extraction) represent the greatest risks. Comparatively fewer articles portray informal workers positively or as contributing to e-waste solutions. Most articles also do not explain challenges that arise when working with informal workers. As such, media depictions today often lag behind policy debates and obscure multiple facets-good and bad-of the informal sector's involvement in managing e-waste. Thus, an opportunity exists for policymakers, manufacturers, and advocacy groups to bridge the gap between current media representations of informal workers' involvement in e-waste management and policy recommendations surrounding their role.

Determinants of Individuals’ E-Waste Recycling Decision: A Case Study from Romania

“…Other areas of study related to the e-waste recycling process have addressed, but are not limited to: stress and occupational noise exposure in the case of e-waste recycling workers [31,68], public awareness regarding the informal sector's involvement in managing e-waste [33], developing an e-waste sorting methodology [69], the effect of macroeconomic and social factors on illegal e-waste trade [70], the link between gross domestic product (GDP) and e-waste [71].…”

“…As the topic of e-waste recycling is vast, a series of papers have addressed this problem in different countries contexts such as: Brazil [22], Canada [23], China [24][25][26][27][28], Costa Rica [29], Ghana [30,31], Greece [32], Hong Kong [24], India [33], Italy [34], Japan [26], Mexico [35,36], New Zealand [7], Nigeria [19,37], South Korea [26], Sri Lanka [38], Taiwan [26,39], United Kingdom [40], United States [41], Vietnam [42], etc., by studying various aspects related to the e-waste recycling process in the context of the behavior of the consumers' located in these areas.…”

A model to rapidly assess informal electronic waste systems

“…Despite this, strikingly little is known of these flows and actors. Discussion of the informal sector only appears in the policy literature as evidence of the e-waste problem, with little consideration for how they might interface with and improve formal systems (Davis and Garb, 2017; Davis et al, 2019; Radulovic, 2018). This might be because of its invisibility to policymakers or due to an unfounded sense that the informal sector will evaporate and be replaced by a newly established formal sector.…”

Behavior of Waste Printed Circuit Board (WPCB) Materials in the Copper Matte Smelting Process

“…Additionally, the increase in average disposable income has reduced the cycle times of electronic equipment. Globally generated e-waste amounted to 44.7 million metric tons in 2016 [1]. The amount of collected e-waste is expected to surge rapidly, which would further increase the need for efficient recycling solutions.…”