The digital revolution is in full swing. Electronics products are all around us and demand for new electronic equipment, for computers and their accessories, for cell phones and televisions and other consumer goods, is growing at a rapid pace. This is happening all around the globe, including in emerging countries such as Bangladesh. At the same time, Bangladesh has become one of many magnets for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) from not only Europe and North America but also elsewhere in Asia. The Bangladeshis working in the local waste recovery economy are making creative use of these materials. 'We document a substantial post-consumption economic activity involving the resale, refurbishment, remanufacturing, repair and dismantling of e-waste imported into Bangladesh,' notes Dr Josh Lep-awsky, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. 'As we followed the objects and materials that are deemed e-waste elsewhere, we found material affordances conjoining with human capacities to re-imagine and rework them into value.'
展开▼