Meeting to explore ways of tackling e-waste menace

Kenya: A major conference will take place in Nairobi next week to explore ways of addressing the rising threat of electronic waste in the country.

 The conference comes as mounting research evidence shows that waste from disused electronic equipment like mobile phones and TVs is becoming a major threat to human health.

 The meeting, which will take place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre,  will bring together stakeholders in the sector including regulators, policy makers, service providers, distributors, manufacturers, collectors, dismantlers, recyclers, consumers, researchers, trainers, public health and environmental advocates.

Economic opportunity

It is organised by the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI)  and mobile operator Safaricom, among others. KIRDI is a research institution under the Industrialisation ministry.

 “We are confident that this conference will not only play its part in raising awareness about the threat posed by e-waste but also highlight the huge economic opportunity it presents in terms of recycling,” said Dr Faridah Were, a Senior Research Scientist at KIRDI who has conducted research on e-waste.

 Currently, mobile operator Safaricom is running a programme of collecting e-waste in its outlets, including disused mobile phones. So far, the firm has collected 40 tonnes of e-waste in Nairobi alone, according to its corporate affairs director, Nzioka Waita.

 “It is imperative that stakeholders take an early lead in addressing e-waste before the policy and regulations are developed, not only with regards to their products, but from an industry and eco-system-wide perspective,” he says.

 Parliamentary Committee on Environment chairperson Amina Abdalla said new draft regulations on e-waste by the National Environment Management Authority are about to be gazetted and will help in reducing the negative impacts of e-waste and enhance recycling.