Mobile Phone Recycling and Reuse in the Accra Metropolis: Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

The rapid advancement in mobile phone technology has also increased consumers appetite for newer versions. This has shortened the average lifespan of mobile phone and induced the need for resources to produce more phones. To ensure the sustainability of the global natural resources, reuse and recycling of mobile phones have been suggested as a potential alternative. The study sought to examine the prospects and challenges associated with mobile phone recycling and reuse in the Accra Metropolis. This is not about an attempt to conserve the limited resources but, more importantly, to manage their end-of-life disposal in an environmentally friendly and healthy condition. Respondents’ attitudes toward mobile phone recycling and the perceived risks associated with the recycling process were investigated. The study employed the mixed method to examine mobile phone recycling, reuse and the potential prospects and challenges in Metropolitan Accra. Respondents were selected from households at Airport Residential, Osu and Nima in order to capture respondents from all the income spectrum (high, middle and low-income communities respectively). The findings revealed that respondents endorse the need for mobile phones reuse and recycling as a way of increasing job opportunities, and reduce the need for raw materials to produce new phones. Further, the respondents also indicated that among the factors they would consider in giving out their mobile phones for recycling will include high recovery price. Concerning the challenges of mobile recycling, respondents alluded to possible pollution if they are not properly managed at its end-of-life. The study recommends the formalisation of the informal mobile phone recycling and the placement of recycling bins at vantage points for people to drop off their used phones for recycling. It further calls for the revision of the regulatory policy governing the management of electronic and electrical waste in Ghana to factor in the role of the informal sector.