The Challenge and Opportunity of eWaste Management in Southern Africa

When you buy a new phone nowadays, chances are the phone will come without a charging brick in the box. The logic they present forward is that most consumers already have chargers from their previous phones and so excluding that in the packaging is great for the environment as it reduces eWaste (electronic waste). Depending on who you ask among consumers, they still want the charging brick because for consumers - more things in the box roughly translates to more value for money. 

This small conundrum got us wondering how significant the issue of EEE POM (or Electrical and Electronic Equipment Placed on the Market) better known as eWaste is in the context of Africa. As is usually the case we looked at it from the lens of Southern Africa…

eWaste exists within 6 categories;

1. temperature exchange equipment;
2. screens and monitors;
3. lamps;
4. large equipment; 
5. small equipment 
6. small IT and telecommunication equipment.

The global eWaste conundrum vis-a-vis Africa

Electronic waste is on the rise at a rate of 2 Mt (million metric ton) per year and the figure is expected to grow to 74.7 Mt by 2030. In 2019, Africa generated 2.9 Mt of eWaste and more alarmingly only 0.03 Mt (0.09%) was collected and properly recycled. The figure has been disputed as being partially representative as there is limited information in regards to the amount of eWaste collected and recycled but compared to other regions it does highlight that the culture of recycling (within eWaste at least) is still quite primitive.