In discourse about technological adoption and revolution, the piles of old monitors, phones, cables, mouses, and keyboards are often forgotten. With every new phone or laptop release, thousands of devices and their accompanying attachments are discarded without much thought. As Annie Leonard, the American proponent of sustainability, once phrased it: “There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere.”
And it certainly is going somewhere. In fact, according to the World Bank, e-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the world. In 2022, for instance, there were around 62 million tons of e-waste produced globally. More distressingly, only 22.3% of this figure was documented as formally collected and recycled. In Africa, this challenge is more pronounced as most of this waste is driven to the continent.
A 2022 study conducted by Maes and Preston-Whyte estimated that the total e-waste in Africa was between 5.8-3.4 metric tons in 2019 alone, with a distressing caveat that this was a gross underestimation of the actual figure. Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania, with Kenya, Senegal and Egypt are disproportionately impacted by this scourge. As the authors argue, “The growing global manufacture of electronics, in combination with the absence of action plans in African countries and the lack of infrastructure for proper and sustainable e-waste management, has led to e-waste becoming a growing African problem, with global origins.”
While the current figures are already staggering, global forecasts anticipate e-waste generation to increase by 100% in the next three decades. In Africa, e- waste in Senegal, Uganda and South Africa specifically is projected to increase by two to eight times over the next decade. The consequences of unchecked e-waste disposal extend far beyond waste generation. It threatens public health, environmental sustainability, and community wellbeing. For example, hazardous chemicals can seep into the soil and water when e-waste is dumped or burned, thus polluting ecosystems and endangering public health. People living near informal recycling sites, especially waste-pickers and repairers, face direct exposure to toxic fumes and materials, which can lead to various long-term health risks. This is a crisis we need to be taking seriously.
There are certainly solutions to be pivoted. For instance, informal repairers play a key role in South Af- rica’s e-waste ecosystem by refurbishing discarded electronics for resale and creating affordable repair options for township residents. WasteAid, with support from the Dixon Foundation, has launched an E-Waste Repair and Reuse Programme in Johannesburg.
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The initiative provides training in electrical repair and business skills by equipping local repairers with tools and knowledge to improve their micro-businesses. Participants learn to repair small domestic appliances using reclaimed e-waste components. Many repairers now source parts from local waste collectors instead of buying new ones, which strengthens the community’s waste-to-repair cycle. There is certainly scope to expand this program to other parts of Africa. Alongside programs such as this, it is also necessary to invest in certified e-waste recycling plants to ensure the safe handling of hazardous materials while recovering valuable resources from discarded electronics. Urban mining, for instance, focuses on recovering metals from discarded electronics.
Moreover, setting up accessible collection centers in communities makes it easier for people to dispose of old electronics properly instead of dumping them in landfills. This, of course, requires governments and electronic manufacturers alike to also teach people how to properly dispose of e-waste and repair devices instead of replacing them.
Other solutions included Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Policies where governments use incentives to ‘nudge’ behavioral changes from manufacturers. Through subsidies or tax breaks, governments can encourage electronics manufacturers to take responsibility for the recycling and safe disposal of their products. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) offers guidance to standardize EPR policies across countries by outlining principles and trade-offs to improve their effectiveness. These policies support recycling goals, fund waste collection and recycling, and provide data on production and waste management.
Companies like Apple and Samsung already offer trade-in programs where customers can return old devices for credit towards new ones to ensure proper recycling and reuse. In tandem with these policies, right-to-repair laws should be considered. These laws require companies to provide repair manuals and spare parts to consumers, and independent repair shops help extend product lifespans and reduce e-waste. These laws have already been implemented in the European Union in 2023 and across some parts of the United States and there is already mounting pressure for these laws to be considered in other countries.
As Africa looks to tackle its burgeoning e-waste challenge, we need to combine policy with sustainable recycling solutions–this is how we really combine advancement with revolution.
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