This thesis analyses the phenomenon of e-waste in contemporary global economy. Growth of international trade of hazardous and non-hazardous waste brings about need to reconceptualise economic activity as multi-directional with a complex set of actors and regimes of value involved. Consequently, this thesis addresses the role of e-waste in secondary economies and mechanisms which enable waste to transform into resource. The lack of transparency overlapping with the issue of informality in waste management practices makes e-waste peculiarly difficult to govern. Based on the global production network approach, the thesis conceptualises e-waste issue by analysing the multi-layered networks of actors and the power distribution and embeddedness of actors and institutions in production networks. These conceptual elements are applied with the analysis of risk-resource duality of e-waste, which in different spatial contexts means that transformation from waste to resource is dependent on regulatory measures taken within a particular network. Empirically, the thesis analyses the international, regional and national regulations on e-waste with a view of determining their overlap, applicability and reach. The regulatory framework is then assessed on case studies of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and their national e-waste management systems and trade practices. The thesis demonstrates the narrow, limited applicability of current regulation regime in dealing with complexity of e-waste issue. In doing so, the thesis highlights the failure of regulations to address the multi-directional nature of trade flows, relying on the oversimplified North–South split narrative.
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