Credit: Nairobi Business Monthly
OEM collaborates with recycling experts, financiers, regulators and academics to develop large-scale recycling facility and e-waste collection network in Kenya.
The Guardian reported on the efforts made by HP to introduce large-scale e-waste recycling in East Africa to tackle the growing amounts of e-waste in Kenya and other developing countries; with the OEM working with “government, multinationals and individuals” to create a recycling system.
The aim was to “develop a blueprint for a sustainable recycling system that could be replicated in other developing countries”; with Africa reportedly housing more mobile phones than the US and e-waste “expected to top 60 million tonnes globally by 2017”. The system was to be designed to “separate and dismantle e-waste” while ensuring that “Kenyans working on the project received a fair price for the recovered materials”.
Along with providing funding, IT equipment and IT design expertise to help develop the system, HP collaborated with “a group of recycling experts, financiers, regulators and academics”, including the East African Compliant Recycling (EACR) and the University of Northampton, which provided “recycling training and awareness”. Kenyan authorities were also involved in “developing the regulatory environment”, while German investment firm Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft helped to offer funding and project management.
As a result of the project, the first large-scale recycling facility in East Africa was opened in Nairobi, along with the development of “Kenya’s first-ever registered collection network for e-waste”, with micro-businesses receiving equipment and training to collect the e-waste from 40 collection points “housed in shipping containers” while ensuring that global standards are met. Furthermore, a “network of collectors who bring e-waste to the shipping containers” was set up, with “both the micro-businesses and individual collectors […] paid fairly”.
According to the article, it is estimated that 2,000 jobs will have been created by the initiative by the end of this year.
Robert Truscott, Chief Executive of EACR, said: “This is the first model of its kind, not just in Africa but anywhere in the world […] this model is about connecting the collector to the global markets for the materials, and providing them with a fair and transparent price, to ensure they get the maximum value for the waste.”