Doctoral Dissertation Research: Electronic Waste Recycling in South Africa: Transition Management in Practice?

电子产品由各种组件组成，包括贵重金属和危险材料。 地球仪每年产生数千万吨电子废物，但只有一小部分电子废物得到回收利用。 虽然随着电子产品的使用在国际上的增长，电子垃圾的数量继续呈指数级增长，但回收成本阻止了世界发达国家（如美国和欧洲）的广泛回收。 因此，全球电子废物产业已经兴起，废物被出口到世界上的一些地区，如中国，印度和一些非洲国家，在那里发生非法倾倒和非正式回收。 许多国家的回收做法涉及去除有价值的金属，但这些做法对人类和生态系统有害。 南非正在寻求一种相对未经探索的电子废物处理方法：可持续回收。南非的电子废物目标正在通过约翰内斯堡的一个试点项目逐步推进，该项目将向消费者收取回收费，这笔费用将用于支持废物处理企业。 这个博士论文研究项目将整合过渡管理理论与政治生态的观点，以研究在创建这个行业中发挥作用的权力关系，以及该项目扩展到其他环境的潜力。 博士生将使用一系列的方法，包括文件分析;与利益相关者，如电子废物处理，政策制定者，非政府组织官员和消费者的深入访谈;正式和非正式回收设施的实地观察;以及参与规划和战略制定会议的观察。该项目的动机是电子废物挑战的严重性，出口问题上的相对僵局，以及南非为电子废物管理开辟创新途径的潜力。 项目结果可以帮助决策者了解回收系统的环境和生态后果，以及为促进成功的社会技术制度过渡而必须影响的更广泛景观中的因素。 此外，记录影响电子废物战略制定和项目实施的权力关系，有助于纠正结构性不平等，并增强可能缺席决策过程的社区居民和消费者等利益攸关方的权能。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立和强大的独立研究事业。

Electronic goods are made of diverse components, including valuable metals and hazardous materials. Tens of millions of tons of electronic waste (e-waste) is produced annually across the globe, but only a small proportion of this e-waste is recycled. While the amount of e-waste continues to rise exponentially as use of electronics grows internationally, recycling costs prohibit widespread recycling in the developed nations of the world, such as the U.S. and Europe. As a result, a global e-waste industry has arisen in which waste is exported into parts of the world like China, India, and some African countries, where illegal dumping and informal recycling occur. Recycling practices in many countries involve the removal of valuable metals, but they employ practices harmful to people and ecosystems. South Africa is pursuing a relatively unexplored approach to e-waste: sustainable recycling. South Africa's e-waste goals are being most progressively advanced through a pilot program in Johannesburg that will charge recycling fees to consumers, with the fee being used to support waste processing enterprises. This doctoral dissertation research project will integrate transition management theory with political ecological perspectives in order to examine the power relations at play in the creation of this industry as well as the potential for this project to be scaled out to other contexts. The doctoral student will use a range of methods, including document analysis; in-depth interviews with stakeholders, such as e-waste processors, policy makers, non-governmental organization officials, and consumers; field observations of formal and informal recycling facilities; and participant observation in planning and strategizing meetings.This project is motivated by the magnitude of the e-waste challenge, the relative impasse over the question of exportation, and the potential for South Africa to forge an innovative pathway for e-waste management. Project results can help inform policy makers about the environmental and ecological consequences of the recycling system as well as the factors in the broader landscape that must be influenced in order to facilitate a successful sociotechnical regime transition. Moreover, documenting the power relations shaping e-waste strategy development and project implementation can help remedy structural inequalities and empower stakeholders like community residents and consumers who may be absent from the decision-making process. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Award, this award will provide support to enable a promising student to establish and strong independent research career.