Sustainable Development through Metal Recycling in Africa: Lessons from the Chinese Metal Industry

Metal manufacturing industry in Africa plays a pivotal role in the economic growth and development of countries endowed with valuable metal reserves. A lot has been written about the contribution of metal mining to sustainable development, however little attention is paid to metal recycling as a means of building and sustaining Africa’s development. This paper focuses on the metal waste recycling. We draw on the experiences of the Chinese Metal industry, a global market leader in metal recycling, and make suggestions as to how Africa can develop its metal recycling industry anchored in sustainability principles. We advocate a Chinese-Africa partnership that is based on technology development as opposed to its current relations based on a resource extraction strategy.