Valuable information on recyclable waste: mobile phones and the rationalization of the scrap-handling sector in Myanmar

Abstract

This article examines how the scrap-handling/recycling system in Myanmar has adopted mobile telephony in its day-to-day operations, and how this has led to a rationalization of the sector. It focuses on work processes, information and price retrieval, risk management, efficiency, and coordination. Scrap-handlers and ragpickers in four townships of Myanmar were interviewed in three phases of fieldwork, and their mobile phone use was also observed. The findings provide insight into how mobile communication can streamline the day-to-day workings of a sector, and also the disadvantages experienced by those who do not have a mobile phone.