/ 18 October 2024

OPINION: We need to do more than talk about electronic waste

Most of Kenya's fastest growing manufacturing waste is not from there. Containing precious metals and lethal toxins
When e-waste is burned, dumped in the environment or recycled incorrectly, chemicals, including lead, are released. 

This week marked International e-Waste Day, a largely unknown day that generally doesn’t receive much hype. Electronic waste is anything that has a battery or a plug and includes everything from household appliances and cellphones to medical equipment and computers. 

E-waste is considered a hazard to humans and the environment because it contains a range of toxic chemical substances. 

Global consensus is that about 62 million tonnes of e-waste is generated each year. This is equivalent to about 10 million elephants or 1.55 million 40-tonne trucks that can form a line around the Equator. 

This number is set to increase to 82 million tonnes by 2030. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says: “Only 22.3% was documented as formally collected and recycled.” 

When e-waste is burned, dumped in the environment or recycled incorrectly, chemicals, including lead, are released. 

 The WHO believes women and children, as well as informal recyclers, are most at risk to hazardous exposures. People working in the industrial waste sector are also at particular risk. 

Urgent intervention is needed and the department of forestry, fisheries, and the environment believes tackling it can be done through legislative and regulatory measures. The department “is currently considering comments that were received from the public on the draft Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment National Management Policy”, it said in a statement. 

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, which came into effect in 1992, monitors the movement of waste to stop countries from shipping their waste to other countries. 

In 2019 plastic waste was included and, in 2006, e-waste. 

Much of the waste often ends up in African countries, which struggle to recycle this waste, with the global e-waste monitor finding that the recycling rates are below 1%. 

Some solutions include trade-in programmes where people can purchase old electronics at discounted rates, extending their lifespans and  slowing the waste trajectory. 

Businesses need to partner with companies that refurbish e-waste. Regulations need to be in place to ensure that companies do not dump e-waste and is instead recycled and made usable once again. 

Colin Williamson of Regener8 Group says: “By making refurbished tech more widely available at a fraction of the cost of new devices, we can help to close the digital divide in South Africa. This has the potential to have a massive ripple effect, helping underprivileged people to study, gain qualifications, secure work, and start and run their own businesses, [as well as] contributing to the future development of the country’s economy.”

The department’s draft National Policy for the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, which was released for public comment in June, calls for stronger extended producer responsibility legislation. It calls for electronic producers to “register with the government and produce a plan for end-of-life management for their technology,” Williamson said. 

Under the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, the department has prohibited the disposal of e-waste into landfills since 2021.

Companies are taking steps to recycle e-waste. For example, Massmart has partnered with e-waste recycling companies to dismantle products into components that can be reused and recycled. Through its Builders Warehouse subsidiary, the company has extended e-waste collection facilities that ensures that this waste is being reused and recycled, Massmart has said. 

Other examples include giving life to solar kits on the continent. According to research by the University of New South Wales and British charity SolarAid, “nearly all (90%) off-grid distributors are already delivering some kind of repair service as a part of their operations”.

“Meanwhile 69% identified better access to spare parts as presenting the greatest opportunity to improve repair services.” 

Retailer Pick n Pay has partnered with EWaste Africa and the E-waste Recycling Authority to create facilities where e-waste can be recycled.

“Through our recent campaigns, it became clear that South Africans are e-waste hoarders. Our partnership with one of the nation’s largest retailers will strengthen the infrastructure for improved waste management and responsible citizenry for people, planet and purpose,” Ashley du Plooy, chief executive of E-waste Recycling Authority, said in a statement.

Cellphones are a major component of e-waste and they have precious metals that can be recycled. This includes gold, silver, copper, lead, nickel, zinc, cobalt, aluminium and lithium. And plastic. These can be recycled and reused in some form. 

The theme for this year’s International e-Waste Day was: “Join the e-Waste Hunt – Retrieve, Recycle and Revive.” The aim was to get people to drop off their electronic waste for recycling at collections centres. 

Various supermarkets and collection points exist across the country where e-waste can be dropped off to be disposed of safely.