Governing solar electronic waste recycling in Kenya

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to a circular economy by developing a more sustainable model of market development for OGS devices in Kenya and SSA. This will be achieved by conducting research aimed at identifying appropriate schemes for the collection, handling and recycling of SEW. The project is designed to advance relevant research capacity in Kenya and will provide a platform for developing a local hub of expertise for SEW both for the researches and the private companies involved.  

The research will be guided by the overall question of how the emerging market for OGS devices can move toward a sustainable pathway in Kenya. The project will analyse the role of the key actors involved along the value chain, including OGS lead firms, households and the local repair economy, in relation to the end-of-life stage for OGS products and SEW materials. This analytical focus will allow end-user behaviour and waste disposal to be integrated into the GVC framework (Hansen and Nygaard, 2020). The main scientific results will be a contribution to advance the international GVC research frontier with special focus on EnvU in polycentric value chains. The main scientific outputs will be in the form of 6 co-authored papers, which will be presented at international conferences, and published in leading international peer-reviewed journals.