




































EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               58 

 

ETHICAL EVALUATION OF E-WASTE CRISIS IN AFRICA 

  

Ibe Anthony Anyanwu 

Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos 

Email: ibeanthonyanyanwu@gmail.com 

                                     

 

Abstract 

This study contends that the proliferation in the generation, transmission and 

disposal of electronic-waste (e-waste) in Africa is a matter of serious concern. 

This circumstance raises interdisciplinary challenges of environmental 

sustainability. Yet, the dumping of used electronic and electrical products into 

Africa from the Global North has raised fundamental ethical question of justice. 

However, the study confirms that the basis of all environmental justice 

variations is the consideration of fairness, equity and justice in the 

environmental processes that resolve environmental problems. Consequently, 

this study investigates how to mitigate the importation of e-waste through 

government interventions and effective information mechanism and 

enforcement of the laws regulating trade on e-waste to ensure a healthy biotic 

community. By using the analytic method, this research provides a robust 

analysis of the dominant ideologies underlying international trade in e-waste. 

This study examines conventions that are designed to regulate the global and 

regional transactions in e-waste and argues that treaties such as the Basel and 

Bamako Conventions are fundamental to the quest for environmental justice in 

Africa. The theoretical framework underpinning this research is “justice as 

fairness” which gives primacy to equity and the need to protect the least 

advantaged in the society. This research confirms that ecological considerations 

must trump economic motives behind e-waste transfers to developing countries 

of Africa and the global community. Giving consideration to the ecological 

harm occasioned by the dumping of e-waste is a sine qua non for achieving 

environmental justice in Africa. Rawls’ theory of justice is a potent and 

serviceable philosophical instrument that can be used for ethical evaluation of 

e-waste crisis in Africa. The research contributes to knowledge by a rigorous 

application of Rawlsian thought on justice to the problem of e-waste 

management in ways that advance the realisation of environmental justice 

without jeopardising the value of sharing technological products, especially 

used electronic gadgets from the Global North. 

Keywords: Basel and Bamako conventions, environment, e-waste, justice.  

 

Introduction 

The increasing generation of electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the growing 

environmental problems in the 21st century. A good way to dispose e-waste in 

order to guarantee ecologically justifiably best practices is of a fundamental 

ethical relevance. E-waste represents a huge share of the country import and its 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               59 

 

destination site is mainly concentrated in Lagos Nigeria, meaning that the 

hazardous effect of pollution affects both human and the biotic environment if 

not managed properly.  

 

Study shows that in order to bridge the digital divide given the voluminous 

increase in the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) devices 

adding to alarming growth of e-waste worldwide and for Africa and other 

developing nations to have a sustainable environment, there is a need for e-

waste management as e-waste components may cause severe health risks and 

environmental damage, when crude, unscientific methods are applied for 

recovery of useful components. There is a need to encourage recycling of all 

useful and valuable material from e-wastes to preserve the natural resources. In 

this research, we confirm that most of the developing countries are suffering 

with the rapidly growing problems of e-waste and have to have sound e-waste 

management systems for end of life ICT products to avoid the threat on 

environment and mankind. Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) contain 

valuable as well as hazardous materials and if at end of life of EEE, the 

hazardous materials are not disposed of scientifically it may cause serious 

damage to the environment and public health. The presence of heavy metals 

(like Arsenic, Cadmium, Barium, Lead, Lithium, Mercury, Nickel, Zinc 

Sulphide) and other toxic substances like PCB (Polychlorinated biphenyls) etc. 

may cause extreme harm, if not disposed of in an environment friendly manner 

( Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, The EU and India: sharing best 

practices, Toxics Link). 

 

In Nigeria, agitation for environmental justice in both the extractive and 

conservative sectors of the economy has a long history. The National 

Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA), an 

agency of the Federal Ministry of Environment is responsible for the 

enforcement of all the environmental laws in Nigeria. The broader vision of the 

institution is to ensure cleaner and healthier environment for all Nigerians. 

NESREA is set up to inspire personal and collective responsibility in building 

an environmentally conscious society for the achievement of sustainable 

development in Nigeria. NESREA is empowered among other provisional 

processes, to stop the use of equipment or technology that undermines 

environmental quality. Its mandates also include development of new, and 

review of existing national environmental laws and regulations. Others involve 

the enforcement of all multilateral environmental agreements, protocols, 

treaties and conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory. Unfortunately, this 

Agency has not effectively carried out its responsibilities to the effect that 

information disseminations both written and oral through media houses, 

policies and other information mechanisms are inadequate or strictly not in 

place. The laws regulating trans-border movement in Nigeria is so ineffective 

that importers and smugglers have no difficulty bringing in this obsolete 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               60 

 

electronic product despite the fact that they are aware of the harmful effect of 

these products. Study confirms that Loopholes in the implementation of the law 

have, however, ensured that from countries like Germany, the UK and other 

European nations, some of these waste are still exported, a lot of them to 

African countries like Nigeria.   However, study shows that the illegal business 

is not masterminded or controlled by cabals but by various individuals who try 

to make money for themselves that one of the sectors where loopholes exist in 

Europe is transportation (Freja C, Erikson (2016). E-wastes are usually 

recovered from homes and offices and are supposed to be moved straight to 

treatment plants. But some individuals have now seen huge business 

opportunities in intercepting EEE as they move various stages of the transport 

chain. So a huge chunk of the waste, instead of arriving treatment plants, is 

illegal shipped abroad to countries such as Nigeria. Although there are 

increasingly more stringent laws on inspection and testing of e-products before 

they are allowed to be shipped from Germany, however, a Nigerian 

businessman, Ugochukwu Okafor (an importer) revealed that there are ways to 

work around the regulations. "When you buy them (the non-tested largely e-

waste products), we (brokers) can help you properly pack them in your car (to 

be shipped too)," he said. "The ones that are very exposed will be tested to 

convince the shipping authorities they all work fine.” Despite being illegal and 

hazardous, there is a craving for both e-waste and used EEE among several 

Nigerians. The major reason for this, experts and several Nigerian sellers and 

buyers claimed, is economic. It is a fact that most Nigerians cannot afford new 

products. Over half of Nigeria's N200 million live in poverty to be able to afford 

basic electrical and electronic equipment like fridges, TVs, and microwave 

ovens, most of them buy used ones. Apart from cost, some Nigerians also feel 

the used products are of better quality than new ones imported from China.  

 

Study confirms that the transnational trade on 'tokunbo' electronics is however 

not entirely negative, say experts. Apart from thousands of exporters and 

importers of used Electronics and Electrical Equipment, the industry has also 

created a lot of jobs in Nigeria's informal sector. About 80,000 people are 

estimated to work as scavengers, people who pick the electronic waste from 

homes, dumpsites and other places. Another 52,000 are estimated to work as 

refurbishers, repairing the 'non-tested', non-functional electronics. The fact that 

thousands of jobs are created in the industry and that some of the imported 

waste can be repaired and the life cycle extended has led to calls for review of 

the international ban on e-wastes. Study shows that the life cycle of the used 

electronics is extended in Nigeria; it still ends up as waste. About 1.1 million 

tons of EEE become obsolete each year in the West African country with almost 

half of that ending up as e-waste. Part of the problem is lack of organized e-

waste recycling or dismantling facility in the country. The one located on Lagos 

Island is not functioning efficiently. Due to this lack of formal recycling, 

informal scavengers have instead stepped in to make the last money from the 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               61 

 

precious metals of e-waste in Nigeria by dismantling them and separate what 

they consider useful, like, aluminum, copper, lead etc. and sell to the Chinese, 

Lebanese and Indians who buy the pieces from the scavengers, take it to Europe 

and make the dollars. That is what is happening right now in Nigeria and other 

African countries. Currently, Nigeria's informal system is thus leaking 

hazardous toxins into the ground and valuable materials into foreign pockets. 

On the contrary, the diagnostic assessment displayed in this article clearly show 

that e-waste is a significant global environment and health issue, with 

implications far broader than occupational exposure and involving vulnerable 

groups and generations to come. In this study, we shall discuss the work in four 

sections; Section one is dedicated to the definition of e-waste from the 

philosophical point of view. Section two discusses the rationale for e-waste 

importation in Africa and how it affects the environment and health of the 

citizens especially Nigeria. Section three deals with the previous attempts at 

addressing the problems of e-waste and elaborates how e-waste dumping in 

Africa can be mitigated if the government and agencies responsible for the 

control of trans-boundry movement of e-waste from the developed nations to 

Africa can effectively enforce the laws regulating harmful movement of 

products such as e-waste. The role of Basel and Bamako convention and other 

regulatory bodies is fundamental to the quest for e-waste management in Africa. 

Section four deals with the application of the modified ethical theory of John 

Rawls as a paradigm for the exposition and explication of the leading theories 

that explain e-waste practices as it affects both human and the environment in 

the developing nations such as Africa. While section five which is the 

conclusion is an attempt to transcend theory into practice by prescribing ideas 

and policies that can be applied to mitigate the influx of e-waste into Africa by 

a rigorous application of Rawlsian thought on justice to the problem of e-waste 

management in Africa.  

 

Electronic Waste (e-waste) 

Wastes are complex mixtures of different substances, only some of which are 

intrinsically hazardous to health (Oxford, Paragraph 2). Hazardous wastes 

include a wide variety of waste materials that can be a threat to human health 

and to the environment at large. They are produced by many industries 

including chemicals, ferrous, metal and electronic industries (Linda, 1988:424). 

The hazardousness of a substance depends on the chemical concentration level 

of the substance; hence, it is dependent on a relative toxicity scale (Pedro, 

2009:296). Electronic wastes are examples of hazardous wastes; the former is 

entailed in the latter. “Electronic wastes could be seen as discarded computers, 

office electronic equipment, entertainment devices, salvage, recycling or 

disposal” (Smith and Puckett, 2002:5). It is regarded as the waste from electrical 

and electronic equipment (WEEE). E-waste, as it is usually called, is 

categorised into three main classes- large household appliances; IT and 

Telecom; and equipment. Refrigerator and washing machine are large 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               62 

 

household appliance; PC Monitor, phones and laptop represents IT and 

Telecom; while TV represents consumer equipment, (Violet, 2008: 33). It 

should be noted that today's latest version of television and computers will 

eventually wear and no longer serve its owner's needs, it then results into a kind 

of waste-electronic waste (Environmental update, 2004: Paragraph 1). The 

estimates of these obsolete goods, as recorded varied from place to place but 

nonetheless, there are records of tens of million tons of obsolete electronic 

materials. Television and computer wastes are (not) managed like any other 

solid wastes produced by households. E-waste is generated when an electronic 

or electrical items has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be disposed 

of. It can be valuable as a source for secondary raw materials (recycling); and 

toxic or hazardous if treated and discarded improperly as we do largely in this 

part of the world (Pedro, 2009: 300).  

 

Although, study has it that China and India have been the dumping ground for 

obsolete electronic products,. Since 2005, it has been realised that handling of 

e-wastes from the developed nations has shifted attention to African countries, 

especially Nigeria, Ghana and South-Africa. Study confirmed that the 

transnational trade on 'tokunbo' electronics is however not entirely negative, say 

experts. Apart from thousands of exporters and importers of used Electrical and 

Electronic Equipment, the industry has also created a lot of jobs in Nigeria's 

informal sector. About 80,000 people are estimated to work as scavengers, 

people who pick the electronic waste from homes, dumpsites and other places. 

Another 52,000 are estimated to work as refurbishers, repairing the 'non-tested', 

non-functional electronics. The fact that thousands of jobs are created in the 

industry and that some of the imported waste can be repaired and the life cycle 

extended has led to calls for review of the international ban on e-wastes. Study 

shows that the life cycle of the used electronics is extended in Nigeria; it still 

ends up as waste. About 1.1 million tons of EEE become obsolete each year in 

the West African country with almost half of that ending up as e-waste.  

 

Part of the problem is lack of organized e-waste recycling or dismantling 

facility in the country. The one located on Lagos Island is not functioning 

efficiently. Due to this lack of formal recycling, informal scavengers have 

instead stepped in to make the last money from the precious metals of e-waste 

in Nigeria by dismantling them and separate what they consider useful, like, 

aluminum, copper, lead etc. and sell to the Chinese, Lebanese and Indians who 

buy the pieces from the scavengers, take it to Europe and make the dollars. That 

is what is happening right now in Nigeria and other African countries. 

Currently, Nigeria's informal system is thus leaking hazardous toxins into the 

ground and valuable materials into foreign pockets. On the contrary, the 

diagnostic assessment displayed in this article clearly show that e-waste is a 

significant global environment and health issue, with implications far broader 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               63 

 

than occupational exposure and involving vulnerable groups and generations to 

come. 

 

Economic Rationale for E-waste Importation into Africa 

In the face of serious health and environmental hazards, many people in 

developing countries earn a living by dismantling; refurbishing, repairing and 

reselling used electronic devices.   

 

Guiyu in China is often considered the e-waste capital of the world with 75 

percent of households involved in the recycling business. But Africa is now 

taken the lead.  In addition, criminals search e-waste for credit card numbers 

and other financial information. For example, “government contracts and 

lucrative agreements with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, the 

Transportation Security Administration and Homeland Security have been 

found on hard drives in Agbogbloshie, an e-waste center in Ghana” (Index 

Mundi, 2011: 3). Studies show that economic, financial vulnerability and 

ignorance of the potential danger compel Africans to receive hazardous 

electronic waste imported from developed nations for a small financial 

compensation in the 1980s. For instance, in 1988, an Italian merchant dumped 

toxic material in Koko in Niger-Delta for a pantry compensation of $100 paid 

to the local owner of the land (Jennifer, 2001: 11). As a result, the movement 

against toxic dumping in poor neighborhoods and communities both in the 

United States and Africa, emerged during the 1980s, just as the movement 

against the global waste trade was taking shape. Consequently, the Basel 

Convention was signed in 1989, during the height of environmental justice 

movements mainly in the United States. It is also probably not coincidental that 

Greenpeace, which has been involved in struggles against environmental 

inequality across the United States, has been the principal advocate for a ban on 

the transnational trade in hazardous waste (ibid).  

 

Shipment of e-waste to Ghana and other developing countries in Africa is an 

example of a global spatial inequality that is having significant environmental 

and health impacts. For instance, after the waste arrives at its destination, it is 

dismantled by workers or scavengers, many of whom are children and 

teenagers. The workers wear no protective gear and use rudimentary tools such 

as stones to open up the product in order to salvage scrap metals; the remaining 

waste materials, including the plastics and cables are either burned or dumped 

into unprotected sites (Agyeman, 2010: 2). Samples of soil, ash, and sediments 

from these waste sites reveal the presence of a wide variety of hazardous 

substances such as lead, cadmium, phthalates and chlorinated dioxins. These 

substances are known to have neurological impacts as well as to cause cancer 

(ibid). It is important to note that Nigeria lacks an indigenous industry which 

implies that the IT sector is basically import oriented. Besides the e-waste which 

is locally generated by consumers in Nigeria, a large quota of the e-waste is 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               64 

 

either unintentionally or intentionally imported as used Electrical and 

Electronics Equipment (EEE) (Schmidt, 2006). The mounting threat posed by 

the existing methods of informal recycling and disposal methods has attracted 

the media (Puckett, Westervelt, & Gutierrez, 2005).  

 

Suffice it to say that this attraction has not gained adequate recognition among 

policy makers and manufacturers of electronics alike. Studies under the 

direction of the E-waste Africa project (Wasswa & Schluep, 2008; Magashi & 

Schluep, 2011; Finlay & Liechti, 2008) revealed that there is a steady increase 

of EEE in Africa, specifically in Nigeria. This invariably, increases the amount 

of e-waste generated in the future (Schluep, et al., 2009: 4). Nigeria houses one 

of the largest IT market in West Africa- Ikeja Computer Village. Ikeja 

Computer village was once a residential area until the early year 2000 when 

Internet technology became a household name in corporate Nigeria. Eager to 

cash in on the birth of a major industry, savvy businessmen acquired properties 

in the most lucrative part of Ikeja (a street known as Otigba) to commence trade 

in IT equipment and electronic devices. By 2003, two years after Global System 

for Mobile communications (GSM) services was launched in Nigeria, Ikeja 

computer village became a household name among telecommunication users, 

within and outside the shores of Nigeria. 

 

African countries have a huge appetite for technology, but due to limited 

financial resources, infrastructure and indigenous IT industry, much of this 

growth is facilitated by import of ‘second hand’ or ‘hand me down’ equipment 

from rich developed countries whose consumers are all too happy to find buyers 

for them. As a result, this sector has become a thriving terrain for middle men 

and brokers who channel this used equipment from the industrialized North to 

the under developed South. Unlike Guiyu in China, Dandora in Kenya and 

Karachi in Pakistan, refurbishing of used electronic devices and unlocking 

mobile devices is a more lucrative practice in Ikeja. Where such devices are 

beyond repair, they are taken apart and used as spare parts for other serviceable 

devices. Scraps and non-reusable parts are either discarded in the main waste 

dumpster, burnt in major trash cans or just left to lie around in the environment. 

The above problem poses serious concerns to a philosophical puzzling mind. 

Yet, a curious observation reveals a dearth of scholarly works, especially from 

a philosophical perspective, on the impact of e-waste in Africa. Ultimately, 

while some international manufacturers now run their own take-back schemes 

and have pledged to produce "greener PCs" with fewer harmful ingredients, the 

UN has now called for an end to Western countries using Africa as a landfill 

for useless electronic (Liz, 2006: 2). 

 

Legal and International Frameworks for Managing E-Waste in Africa 

Different regulatory mechanisms have been recommended for Waste 

generation, segregation, disposal, and monitoring some of such 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               65 

 

recommendations have been vetted and enacted by the government of different 

nations. However, before implementing these laws, we need to ask the question, 

is electronic waste hazardous? Clearly the answer is in the affirmative.  

Toxicologists affirm that electronic wastes consist of toxic elements which are 

dangerous to the ecosystem when exposed or handled carelessly. Legally, 

however, it depends on the government of a state on how serious it chooses to 

deal with electronic wastes. Governments of various nations have setup all-

embracing electronic waste policy framework for their countries. Such policy 

includes recognising the roles and responsibilities of all those who are involved 

in the production of electronic wastes.   It should be noted that everyone is 

involved in electronic waste generation in so far as we have one electronic 

material or the other in our various homes (Pedro, 2009: 302). Besides the 

Bamako Convention, which is a treaty of African nations prohibiting the 

importation of any hazardous waste (including radioactive waste), there is an 

international convention that formulates the principles guiding electronic 

wastes, with the responsibility to regulate the shipment of obsolete electronic 

materials from one country to another, known as Basel Convention.  

 

The Basel Convention 
The Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of 

Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (hereinafter referred to as “the Basel 

Convention”) came into being in 1989 as a result of toxic deposits in Africa and 

other parts of the developing countries. This action, occasioned by the increased 

awareness on the long term effects of improper disposal of hazardous waste by 

the industrialized countries resulted in strident regulations on disposal of 

hazardous waste thus, leading to a corresponding increase in disposal costs. 

Seeking alternative avenues for the increasing E-waste accumulation, industries 

and operators alike sought cheap disposal options in Eastern Europe and the 

developing nations where environmental awareness was low and strident 

regulations and its enforcement was lacking (Basel Convention, 2011). This 

quest to avoid strict laws in the home countries, lead to a seemingly free trade 

of e-waste across international borders; especially to the developing nations.  

 

Against this back drop, the Basel convention came into full action in 1992 

(ibid). The Basel Convention aims to ensure environmental responsibility of 

waste by the country of origin as well as encourage reduced volume of waste 

generation and toxicity by countries who are signatories to the treaty. It also 

ensures that management of hazardous waste or its trans-boundary movement 

is consistent with the protection of human health and the environment where it 

is disposed of. The convention further promotes sound environmental waste 

management amongst developing nations (Basel Convention, 2011: 2). 

Essentially, countries who are signatories to the BanAN convention are obliged 

to ensure that e-waste generation and other hazardous waste is reduced to the 

barest minimum. The convention also ensures that signatory countries possess 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               66 

 

sufficient disposal facilities to ensure proper management of E-waste and other 

hazardous waste generated. It lays specific emphasis on ensuring that waste 

management is extended to the point or place of disposal. It would seem likely 

that a country such as the United States would be able and willing to fulfill and 

implement this call for national self-sufficiency in waste management. To date, 

the United States is the only developed country that has not ratified the Basel 

Convention. U.S. officials, according to Puckett (2002), have actively worked 

to defeat, and then weaken, the Basel waste export ban.  

 

The Bamako Convention 

The Bamako Convention on the Ban and the Control of Trans-boundary 

Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa is a treaty of 

African nations prohibiting the importation of any hazardous waste (including 

radioactive waste). The Convention was negotiated at the Organization of 

African Unity at Bamako, Mali in January, 1991 by twelve African nations. It 

came into force in 1998 (Organization of African Unity (OAU), 1991). The 

Bamako Convention came into being from the realisation that the affluent 

nations were exporting toxic wastes to Africa and from the failure of the Basel 

Convention to effectively prohibit the trade of hazardous waste to less 

developed countries. The Bamako Convention shares some similarities in 

format and use of language as the Basel Convention but it is more resolute in 

prohibiting all imports containing hazardous waste with no exceptions (such as 

radioactive materials) excused by the Basel Convention. Nigeria ratified the 

Basel Convention in May 24, 2004; prohibiting the movement of hazardous 

waste into its shores but has not ratified the Bamako Convention (ibid). 

 

In Nigeria, agitation for environmental justice in both the extractive and 

conservative sectors of the economy has a long history. The National 

Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA), an 

agency of the Federal Ministry of Environment is responsible for the 

enforcement of all the environmental laws in Nigeria. The broader vision of the 

institution is to ensure cleaner and healthier environment for all Nigerians. 

NESREA is set up to inspire personal and collective responsibility in building 

an environmentally conscious society for the achievement of sustainable 

development in Nigeria. NESREA is empowered among other provisional 

processes, to stop the use of equipment or technology that undermines 

environmental quality. Its mandates also include development of new, and 

review of existing national environmental laws and regulations. Others involve 

the enforcement of all multilateral environmental agreements, protocols, 

treaties and conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory. Unfortunately, this 

Agency has not effectively carried out its responsibilities to the effect that 

information disseminations both written and oral through media houses, 

policies and other information mechanisms are inadequate or strictly not in 

place. The laws regulating trans-border movement in Nigeria is so ineffective 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               67 

 

that importers and smugglers have no difficulty bringing in this obsolete 

electronic product despite the fact that they are aware of the harmful effect of 

these products. Study confirms that Loopholes in the implementation of the law 

have, however, ensured that from countries like Germany, the UK and other 

European nations, some of these waste are still exported, a lot of them to 

African countries like Nigeria. 

 

Towards A Rawlsian Approach to an Ethically Conscious Management of 

E-Waste 

A philosophical interrogation of the problem of e-waste dumping in Africa 

requires a focus on the ethical implications of the practice. Also involved is the 

question of environmental justice. This is because in our view, e-waste 

dumping, which is a deliberate act whose consequences are known to the 

perpetrators, carries very grave consequences for the affected African states. 

Furthermore, the study shows how Rawls’s theory of justice can be used to 

interrogate the issue of e-waste management as it affects Africa. Rawls did not 

mention the issue of e-waste either as an environmental concern or as a health 

hazard in his work. However, this is not unconnected with the fact that the 

debate on environmental pollution and e-waste management emerged after the 

seminal work of Rawls which is “Justice as Fairness”. His aim is to present a 

conception of justice which generalizes and carries to a higher level of 

abstraction the familiar theory of the social contract as found, say, in Locke, 

Rousseau, and Kant.  In order to do this we are not to think of the original 

contract as one to enter a particular society or to set up a particular form of 

government. (Rawls, 2005: 3) Rawls conceives the world as a hypothetical 

society in which everyone is equal and must submit himself to the rules as 

earlier agreed. Rawls has this to say; 

 

Thus if men take a certain pleasure in 

discriminating against one another, in 

subjecting others to a lesser liberty as a 

means of enhancing their self- respect, 

then the satisfaction of these desires must 

be weighed in our deliberations according 

to their intensity, or whatever, along with 

other desires. (ibid: 30). 

 

It is no doubt that any informed person would be aware of the fact that our globe 

is harrying on ecological disintegrating precipice. The dumping of e-waste on 

African soil is without regard to the health hazards it causes is a moral problem 

which runs against the principle of justice as fairness as proposed by Rawls. He 

further argues that reasonable regulations to maintain public order and security, 

or efficient measures for public health and safety, promote the common interest 

in this sense (Ibid: 97). Due to income disparity, the West now decided to shift 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               68 

 

their environmental burdens to African countries contrary to difference 

principle as adduced by Rawls.  

This he says; it seems likely that this will 

be true even when the social injustices 

which now exist are removed. What, then, 

can possibly justify this kind of initial 

inequality in life prospects? According to 

the difference principle, it is justifiable 

only if the difference in expectation is to 

the advantage of the representative man 

who is worse off (Rawls, 1971:78).  

 

Rawls conceived the society as a form of cooperation whereby those who are 

well-off like the developed nations should use their resources to better the life 

of the worse-off which Africa represents, rather than continue impoverishing 

these African countries by exporting e-waste to Africa countries. According to 

him, taken together these features of a well-ordered regime diminish the number 

of occasions when the less favored are likely to experience their situation as 

impoverished and humiliating (Rawls, 2005: 537). Giving the precepts of 

justice as fairness to liberty, every society has right to decide what is good for 

them. Now the question of domination by the developed nations over Africa 

because, the poor Africans are in need of technology should not warrant the 

dumping of e-waste in African due to the health risk associated with it.   The 

denial of equal liberty can be accepted only if it is necessary to enhance the 

quality of civilization so that in due course the equal freedoms can be enjoyed 

by all, (Rawls, 2005: 542). 

 

In what seems to be the failure of the government to regulate the movement of 

e-waste into Africa, Rawls has this to say in his work the “Law of Peoples,”  

that an important role of government, 

however arbitrary a society's boundaries 

may appear from a historical point of 

view, is to be the effective agent of a 

people as they take responsibility for their 

territory and the size of their population, 

as well as for maintaining the land's 

environmental integrity. Unless a definite 

agent is given responsibility for 

maintaining an asset and bears the 

responsibility and loss for not doing so, 

that asset tends to deteriorate (Rawls, 

1999: 15). 

 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               69 

 

For Rawls, citizens of a society are by right of justice supposed to decide the 

choice of goods they need and not for another nation for any reason to determine 

the kind of goods and services they are to enjoy. Rawls has this to say: “political 

view is a view about political justice and the common good, and about what 

institutions and policies best promote them. Citizens must somehow acquire 

and understand these ideas if they are to be capable of making judgments about 

basic rights and liberties (Rawls, 2008: 5).” In working out the conception of 

justice as fairness, it could be said that Rawls was faced with the task of 

determining which principles of justice would be chosen in the original 

agreement in a situation of equality. The question then arises whether the 

principle of utility would be acknowledged? For it would be hard for people to 

view themselves as equal, and entitle to press their claims upon each other to 

agree to a principle which may require lesser life prospects for some advantages 

enjoyed by others. In view of this, Rawls admits that one can try to deal with 

this question by viewing political society in a certain way, namely, as a fair 

system of cooperation over time from one generation to the next, where those 

engaged in cooperation are viewed as free and equal citizens and normal 

cooperating members of society over a complete life. We then try to formulate 

principles of political justice such that if the basic structure of society—the 

main political and social institutions and the way they fit together as one scheme 

of cooperation—satisfies those principles, then we can say without pretense and 

fakery that citizens are indeed free and equal (Rawls, 2001: 4).  

 

Why must the developed nations, prefer to worsen their continued existence by 

endangering their health through the importation of e-waste into Africa? In the 

view of Rawls, justice as fairness is an egalitarian view, but there are many 

kinds of equality and many reasons for being concerned with it. So let us review 

several of the reasons for regulating economic and social inequalities. 

According to Rawls, in the absence of special circumstances, it seems wrong 

that some or much of society should be amply provided for, while many, or 

even a few, suffer hardship, not to mention hunger and treatable illness. Urgent 

needs and wants go unfulfilled, while the less urgent ones of others are satisfied. 

But here it may not be inequality of income and wealth as such that bothers us; 

instead we may think that, unless there is real scarcity, all should have at least 

enough to meet their basic needs. Another reason for controlling economic and 

social inequalities is to prevent one part of society from dominating the rest 

(Rawls, 2001: 130).  

 

The quest for technology compels poor African societies to patronize harmful 

products like e-waste thereby degrading our environment and putting human 

life at risk of the toxic effect of the materials. For this reason call on the 

government of Africans become imperative in order to institute regulations that 

will mitigate this anomaly.  Rawls has this to say:  And, of course, there are the 

striking cases of public harms, as when industries sully and erode the natural 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               70 

 

environment. These costs are not normally reckoned with by the market, so that 

the commodities produced are sold at much less than their marginal social costs. 

There is a divergence between private and social accounting that the market 

fails to register. One essential task of law and government is to institute the 

necessary corrections (Rawls, 2005: 268). The effort of human beings to sustain 

the environment remains a serious ontological concern. Their success at it 

concurrently enriches the quality of life and its duration on earth. If the present 

altitude of people to the environment and its sanctity is one of abuse, then a 

cause for action and urgent remedial is needed. Joel Kassiola is of the view that 

humanity will not be able to save the world from environmental catastrophe 

unless and until the normative nature of the environmental problem is 

recognized. Many environmental ethicists hold that radical social changes must 

occur if environmental disaster is to be averted and our world saved, but how 

are the citizens to be environmentally informed so that they will properly 

prioritize and adopt environmental values? (Fadahunsi, 2007: 157). 

 

Although, the concept of theory of justice attracted much criticism, Stanislav 

Mysicka….in his work Environmental Justice and Rawlsian Social Contract 

Theory, argues that Rawls anthropological position is unacceptable hence  there 

are other natural environmental concerns that need urgent attention. That 

human being which is the central concern of Rawls’s justice as fairness cannot 

survive within the natural environment if other natural properties are put into 

extinction. Mysicka further argues, there would be only a few of those who 

would consider human beings radically separate from their natural 

environment, except for adherents of some version of strict mind-body dualism, 

like Descartes. Natural environment and more generally the world ecosystem is 

indispensable for one simple reason: we cannot live without it. He continues we 

need natural resources; we need air, water and food. Moreover, nature plays an 

important role in human psychology because of its aesthetic and other 

functions. Natural environment is essentially important.   

 

Conclusion 

It is confirmed that there is no unique or ideal model for e-waste management 

in developing countries, each of which is characterized by its own specific 

environmental, social, technological, economic and cultural conditions. With a 

view to bridge the digital divide, there is exponential growth in the use of 

Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and so there is alarming effect on 

environment and human health when the ICT wastes are not disposed of 

scientifically. There is an emergent need to implement the existing policies and 

guidelines in line with the international standards and practices for a healthy e-

waste management system. Government policies should encourage the reuse of 

EEE aiming to minimize and recycle Waste Electrical and Electronic 

Equipment (WEEE). The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) does need 

to have clear regulations to mandate the ‘take back’ activity of companies 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               71 

 

strictly. In Nigeria, especially, Lagos, Abuja, Onitsha and Kano, the 

government should establish recycling plants where e-waste can be recycled 

instead of allow the public and scavengers to dispose it improperly and 

unscientifically in order to have a positive impact in reducing the rate of WEEE 

generation, facilitating the management of e- waste and recovery of materials, 

achieving cost reduction.  

 

References 

Agyeman, J. (2010). Environmental Justice and Sustainability in the former 

Soviet Union, Cambridge, MA:  MIT Press.  

Annan, L. (2013). Assessing government intention for Australia Water Reform, 

Using a Social Justice Framework: Society and Natural Resources, 26, 

(11) 1314-1329. 

Atsegbua, J. (2010). Environmental Law in Nigeria: Theory and Practice, 

Benin City: Ambik Press.  

AU (African Union). African Development Bank  and United Nations 

Economic Commission for Africa), (2012). “Consensus Statement.” 

Eighth African Development Forum, “Governing and Harnessing Natural 

Resources for Africa’s Development,” 23–25, Addis Ababa. 

Ausubel, J. & Victor, D. (1992). “Verification of International Environmental 

Agreements”, Annual Review of Energy and Environment, 17, 1-43. DOI 

:10.1146/annurev.eg.17.110192.000245 

 Basel Convention, (2011).   Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary 

Movements of Hazardous Waste, Switzerland: UNEP. 2 

 EPA, (2012). Hazardous waste types. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA), (14), 10.   

 Fadahunsi, A. (2007), Challenging Africa’s environmental crisis: The ethical 

imperative. 157 

 Nnorom, I. C., & Osibanjo, O. (2008). Overview of electronic waste (e-

waste) management practices and legislations, and their poor 

applications in the developing countries. Resources, conservation and 

recycling, 52(6), 843-858. 

Organisation of African Unity (OAU), (1991, January 30). Bamako 

Convention. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from Bamako Convention on the 

BAN of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary 

Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa. 

Osibanjo, O., & Nnorom, I. C. (2007). The challenge of electronic waste (e-

waste) management in developing countries. Waste management & 

research, 25(6), 489-501. 

Pedro, N. (2009). Man and the Environmental Crisis, Lagos: Unilag press. 302 

Pinto, V. N. (2008). E-waste hazard: The impending challenge. Indian journal 

of occupational and environmental medicine, 12(2), 65. 

 

Puckett, J., (2002). Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia. Seattle: 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.eg.17.110192.000245


EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               72 

 

The Basel Action Network (BAN) Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition 

(SVTC).  

Wenz, P. S. (2012). Just garbage: The problem of environmental racism. 

Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application, 596-601. 

Carney L. (2006). “Dirty Business” Part 2, E-waste in Nigeria, BBC News 

Africa: Nigeria Fears E-Waste ‘Toxic Legacy’, Dec. 2006, 13:02 Gmt. 

Choptiany L. (1973). A Critique of Rawls’ Principle of Justice, Victoria College 

University of Toronto: University of Chicago Press, 89. 

Don-Pedro, N. (2009). Man and the Environmental Crisis, Lagos: University 

of Lagos Press.   

EPA, (2012). Hazardous waste types. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 

http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/wastety pe/index.htm. Accessed July 10, 

2014 

E-Waste Guide, Available from: http://www.ewaste.in. The Basel Action 

Network      Exporting Harm: The High-tech Trashing of Asia. Seattle:  

Environmental Protection Agency (1998). Final Guidance for Incorporating 

Environmental Justice Concerns in EPA's NEPA Compliance Analyses. 

Washington DC: US EPA. 

European Parliament and the Council. (2003). Directive 2002/96/EC of the 

European Parliament and of the Council on on waste electrical and 

electronic equipment (WEEE). Brussles: European Union. 

European Union. (1999). Waste From Electrical And Electronic Equipment. 

Explanatory Memorandum. Brussles. 

Fayemi, A.K. (2016). “African Environmental Ethics and the Poverty of Eco-

Activism in Nigeria, A Hermeneutico-Reconstructionist Appraisal,” 

Matatu: 48: 363–388.  

Fadahunsi, A. (2007), Challenging Africa’s environmental crisis: The Ethical 

Imperative. Department of Philosophy, OOU, Nigeria.  

Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1992, December 10). Environmental Impact 

Assessment Decree. (25), 2011, . From index mundi: 

Jennifer, C., (2001). Toxic Export: the Transfer of Hazardous Waste from Rich 

to Poor Countries, London: Cornell University Press.  

Laigle, L., (2006). “ Lesinégalitésécologiques de la ville”: caractérisation des 

situations et de l'actionpublique. Rapport final, Paris: Centre 

Scientifiqueet Technique du Bâtiment 

Macintyre, (1973), A Short History of Ethics: Macmilian Company, New York. 

Magashi, A. & Schluep, M.(2011). E-waste Assessment Tanzania, UNIDO E-

waste Initiative for Tanzania, Cleaner Production Centre of Tanzania 

&Empa Switzerland:  

Mysicka, S. 2015). Environmental Justice and Rawlsian Social Contract 

Theory. University of Hradec, 345. 

Ogungbemi, S. (1997). “An African Perspective on the Environmental Crisis,” 

in Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application, ed. Louis 

J. Pojman (Belmontca: Wadsworth, 1997):330–337.  

http://www.ewaste.in/


EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               73 

 

Ogungbemi, S. (2008). “An African Perspective in the Environmental Crisis”, 

in Environmental Ethics, Readings in Theory and Application (Louis 

Pojman and Paul Pojmaneds). 

Omoyemen, L. O. (20015). Environmental Justice And Poverty Alleviation, 

Roadmap To Sustainable Development in Nigeria. Law school: Lagos.  

Onwughara, N., Nnorom, I., Kanno, O., & Chukwuma, R. (2010). “Disposal 

Methods and heavy Metals Released from Electrical and Electronic 

Equipment Wastes in Nigeria, Adoption of Environmental Sound 

Recycling System”. International Journal of Environmental Science and 

Development:  (4), 7. 

Organisation of African Unity (OAU), (1991, January 30). Bamako 

Convention. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from Bamako Convention on the 

BAN of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary 

Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa. 

Osibanjo, O., & Nnorom, I. C. (2007). The challenge of electronic waste (e-

waste) management in developing countries. Waste management & 

research, 25(6), 489-501. 

Pedro, N. (2009). Man and the Environmental Crisis, Lagos: University of 

Lagos press. 302 

Pinto, V. N. (2008). E-waste hazard: The impending challenge. Indian journal 

of occupational and environmental medicine, 12(2), 65. 

Puckett, J., Byster, L., Westervelt, S., Gutierrez, R., Davis, S., Hussain, A., 

(2002). Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia. Seattle: The 

Basel Action Network (BAN) Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC).  

Puckett, J., (2002). Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia. Seattle: 

The Basel Action Network (BAN) Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition 

(SVTC).  

Puckett, J., Westervelt, S., & Gutierrez, R. (2005). The Digital Dump: 

Exporting Re-use and Abuse to Africa. Seattle: The Basel Action 

Network.   

Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice, Second edition, Cambridge MA: The 

Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 78. 

Rawls, J. (1999). A Theory of Justice: Revised edition, Cambridge MA: The 

Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 15. 

Rawls, J. (1999). The Law of Peoples, “With the Idea of Public Reason Revised, 

Cambridge MA:  The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 246. 

Rawls, J. (2001). Justice as Fairness, Cambridge MA: The Belknap Press of 

Harvard University Press, 4. 

Rawls, J. (2001). Justice as Fairness, Cambridge MA: The Belknap Press of 

Harvard University Press, 130.  

Rawls, J. (2004). Justice as Reciprocity, Cambridge MA: The Belknap Press of 

Harvard University Press, 87. 

Rawls, J. (2005). A Theory of Justice, Second edition, Cambridge MA: The 

Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 3. 



EVAIA: International Journal of Ethics and Values, Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2021 (ISSN: 2787-0448) 

 

 

Anyanwu                                                                                                               74 

 

Ibid: 4. 

Ibid: 84.  

Ibid: 268. 

Ibid: 542. 

Rawls, J. (2008). “Lectures on the History and Political Philosophy”, 

Cambridge, 8. 

Schluep, M., Hagelueken, C., Kuehr, R., Magalini, F., Maurer, C., Meskers, C., 

et al. (2009).  Recycling - from e-waste to resources, Paris, France: Empa, 

Umicore, UNU.: Sustainable innovation and technology transfer 

industrial sector studies 

Schmidt, C. W. (2006). “Unfair trade - E-waste in Africa”, Environmental 

Health Perspectives, 114: A232-A235. 

Smith, T.and Puckett, J. (2002). Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of 

Asia. Seattle: The Basel Action Network (BAN) Silicon Valley Toxics 

Coalition (SVTC).  

  UNDP, (2011). Human Department Report: Sustainability and Equity, A 

better fortune for All, Palgrave Macmillan: New York. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 


