Circular economy transition and the Indian E-waste Market

循环经济转型和印度电子废物市场

• 批准号: ES/Y008243/1
• 负责人: Julia Perczel
• 金额: $ 16.07万
• 依托单位: University of Cambridge
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FY008243%2F1
• 关键词: Circular; economy; transition; Indian; waste

A recent report estimated that globally over five billion mobile phones will have been thrown away by the end of 2022, which, if stacked on top of each other, would reach into space (WEEE 2022). However, the real obstacle for responsible e-waste management is not the projected threat of magnitude but the fact that discarded electronics exist in a dispersed and piecemeal form. E-waste often enters global circuits of value recovery that escape regulations, fragmenting volumes and becoming sources of toxic pollution harming human health and ecosystems (BAN 2002; Forti et al. 2020). Yet as discarded electronics are not only toxic but also a rich depository of copper, gold, silver, platinum, and other metals, e-waste needs to be gathered in larger quantities to realise its potential as a mine (Knapp 2016). My ethnographic research and my writings to date integrate the socio-economic effects of making e-waste circular and the challenges to reconfiguring e-waste as a regulated, clean resource in India. The novelty of my research lies in examining ethnographically, through a one-year fieldwork, the challenges of holding polluters responsible by implementing legal frameworks (Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR). I take the case of EPR to ask the following questions. How to transfer the responsibility of pollution and waste to producers? Who should fund the setting up and running of costly logistical operations and infrastructures, which are indispensable for managing postconsumption e-waste? What are the contradictions of conceiving of such operations as money-making enterprises, conceived as opportunities rather than simply liabilities? In my PhD I followed the work of a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), which I call Sahih Kaam (Hindi for "right work"). My interest was in understanding the contradictions at the heart of creating environmentally sustainable, responsible circular economy solutions to e-waste recycling. I followed the PRO's struggles to carve out a for profit business within the legislative framework that aims to hold producers responsible. They proved to be a curious ethnographic subject because they were intent not only on creating processes to implement the new law but also to initiate sectoral change in the way e-waste is recycled in India. I traced how Sahih Kaam buys up aggregated waste from scrap dealers using their aggregating capacities. However, the company's quest for viable, standardised secondary resources sourced from responsibly circulated e-waste is not only supported, but also undermined and challenged by already existing valuation practices in the informal sector. At the heart of the projects detailed in this application is the question: What does it mean to do right by things, people, and the ecology, and what are the contradictions lurking behind the promise of doing good by all through market incentives? The deepening environmental and climate crisis, and the steady rolling out of policies that are intended to solve it, requires studies that can shed light on how these play out on the ground. Such research could not only contribute to better policies but also reveal the social context of and the challenges to implementation. The introduction of the globally accepted policy of EPR (in e-waste and in plastics), which actions the "polluter pays principle," provides a particularly fertile case study to understand the challenges to a green transition. If awarded, I will use the fellowship to establish a track record through publications, extend professional networks by participating in conferences, widen non-academic impact through meetings with stakeholders, and apply for further research funding with a new project proposal.

最近的一份报告估计，到2022年底，全球范围内将超过50亿部手机扔掉，如果彼此堆叠在彼此的顶部，它将进入太空（Weee 2022）。但是，负责任的电子废物管理的真正障碍不是预计的数量级威胁，而是以分散和零碎的形式存在废弃的电子设备的事实。电子垃圾通常进入全球价值恢复的回路，这些电路逃避了法规，破碎的量并成为损害人类健康和生态系统的有毒污染的来源（Ban 2002； Forti等，2020）。然而，由于废弃的电子不仅有毒，而且是铜，金，银，铂和其他金属的丰富存放地，因此需要大量收集电子垃圾，以实现其作为矿山的潜力（Knapp 2016）。我的民族志研究和迄今为止的著作融合了制作电子垃圾循环的社会经济效应，以及将电子废物重新配置为印度受监管的清洁资源的挑战。我的研究的新颖性在于通过为期一年的野外调查在民族志上检查民族志，即通过实施法律框架（扩展生产者责任或EPR）来承担负责污染者的挑战。我以EPR为例提出以下问题。如何将污染和废物的责任转移给生产者？谁应该资助昂贵的后勤操作和基础架构的建立和运行，这对于管理后的电子废物是必不可少的？构想诸如赚钱企业之类的运营的矛盾是什么，被认为是机会而不是仅仅是责任？在我的博士学位上，我遵循了生产者责任组织（Pro）的工作，我称之为Sahih Kaam（印地语为“正确的工作”）。我的兴趣是理解为创建环境可持续的，负责任的循环经济解决方案以进行电子垃圾回收的核心。我遵循了专业人士的努力，以在旨在使负责生产者的立法框架内开展盈利业务。事实证明，他们是一个奇怪的民族志主题，因为它们不仅打算创建实施新法律的流程，而且还打算在印度回收电子废物的方式来启动部门变化​​。我追踪了Sahih Kaam如何使用其汇总能力从废料经销商那里购买了汇总的废物。但是，该公司对可行的，标准化的二级资源的追求不仅支持负责任地流传的电子废物，而且受到了非正式部门已经存在的估值实践的破坏和挑战。在本申请中详细介绍的项目的核心是问题：事物，人和生态学做正确的事意味着什么？在所有人通过市场激励措施中善待善事的希望背后，矛盾的矛盾是什么？不断发展的环境和气候危机，以及旨在解决该问题的政策的稳定滚动，需要研究这些研究可以阐明这些研究如何在地面上发挥作用。这样的研究不仅可以为更好的政策做出贡献，而且还揭示了实施的社会背景和挑战。引入了EPR（在电子废物和塑料中）的全球接受政策，该政策“污染者付费原则”提供了一个特别肥沃的案例研究，以了解绿色过渡的挑战。如果获得奖励，我将利用奖学金通过出版物来建立往绩记录，通过与利益相关者的会议进行会议来扩展专业网络，扩大非学术影响，并通过新的项目建议申请进一步的研究资金。