he rate at which cheap electronic gadgets for retail are flooding the local market could be viewed by some as development. In most parts of Zimbabwe as in most African states’ urban settlements, there are mushrooming satellite receivers, a move that has helped connect both the urban/rural folk with the rest of the world - making the remotest areas part of the global village.
Whether these listen/watch (to) the so-called pirate radio stations/television or whatever, a new United Nations report has concluded that domestic consumption makes up the majority (up to 85%) of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) produced in especially in West Africa.
This according to a study, Where are WEEE in Africa? Sadly, the situation is the same in most of Africa including Zimbabwe. The e-waste problem is further exacerbated by an ongoing stream of used equipment from industrialised countries, significant volumes of which prove unsuitable for re-use and contribute further to the amount of e-waste generated locally.
In the five countries studied in the UN report (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria), between 650 000 and 1 million tonnes of domestic e-waste are generated each year, which need to be managed to protect human health and the environment in the region.
Where are WEEE in Africa? sheds light on current recycling practices and on socio-economic characteristics of the e-waste sector in West Africa. It also provides the quantitative data on the use, import and disposal of electronic and electrical equipment in the region.
The report draws on the findings of national e-waste assessments carried out in the five countries from 2009 to 2011. It concluded that effective management of the growing amount of e-waste generated in Africa and other parts of the world is an important part of the transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient green economy.
UN Environment Programme executive director Achim Steiner said: “We can grow Africa’s economies, generate decent employment and safeguard the environment by supporting sustainable e-waste management and recovering the valuable metals and other resources locked inside products that end up as e-waste.”
This report shows how measures such as improved collection strategies, and establishing more formal recycling structures, can limit environmental damage and provide economic opportunities. But, what are the risks and opportunities of e-waste?
The use of electrical and electronic equipment is still low in Africa compared to other regions of the world, but it is growing at a staggering pace. The penetration rate of personal computers in Africa, for example, has increased by a factor of 10 in the last decade, while the number of mobile phone subscribers has increased by a factor of 100.
It is therefore everybody’s hope that e-waste will not be dumped to countries such as Zimbabwe through “supersonic” Information Communication Technology minister Nelson Chamisa or President Robert Mugabe’s schools computerisation programmes across the country.
The reason being that electrical and electronic equipment can contain hazardous substances (eg, heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and endocrine disrupting substances such as brominated flame retardants).
These hazardous substances are released during various dismantling and disposal operations and are particularly severe during the burning of cables to liberate copper and of plastics to reduce waste volumes. Open burning of cables especially as normally happens in Mbare’s Magaba and Gazaland, Highfield, both in Harare is a major source of dioxin emissions, a persistent organic pollutant that travels over long distances that bio-accumulates in organisms up through the global food chain.
Electrical and electronic equipment also contains materials of strategic value such as indium and palladium and precious metals such as gold, copper and silver. These can be recovered and recycled, thereby serving as a valuable source of secondary raw materials, reducing pressure on scarce natural resources, as well as minimising the overall environmental footprint.
The report, by the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and partners, also documents the economic and environmental potential of building a sound resource recovery and waste management system for e-waste, along with the risks of continuing on the present course.
According to executive secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Jim Willis, e-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream worldwide and a key waste stream under the Basel Convention.
Clearly dealing with electronic and electrical equipment properly presents a serious environmental and health challenge for many countries, yet also offers a potentially significant opportunity to create green businesses and green jobs.
The exposure to hazardous substances in and around dismantling sites also causes manifold health and safety risks for collectors, recyclers and neighbouring communities. Children’s health in particular may be at risk. Child labour is common in other of Africa’s scrap metal business, it has been found.
Collection and dismantling activities are carried out by children from the age of 12, however younger children from the age of five are sometimes engaged in light work, including dismantling of small parts and sorting of materials.
In contrast to the informal recycling sector, where collection and recycling of e-waste is almost exclusively carried out by individuals largely consisting of migrant labourers who are often stigmatised in African societies as “scavengers”, refurbishment is viewed as a relatively attractive economic opportunity for an increasingly well-educated, semi-professional labour force.
In Accra (Ghana) and Lagos (Nigeria), the refurbishing sector provides income to more than 30 000 people. So, sustainable solutions for e-waste management in Africa require measures aimed at imports and exports control, collection and recycling, policy and legislation that incorporate extended producer responsibility, recognise the important role of the informal sector, promote awareness raising and education, as well as compliance monitoring and enforcement.
Appropriate health and safety measures for those involved in recycling, as well as environmentally sound practices, should be ensured.
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