By James Ratemo
Kenya’s power to mange
e-waste menace has gone a notch higher following Safaricom Foundation’s move to
donate a Sh4 million e-waste grinder to Computer for Schools Kenya (CFSK),
which is in the business of safe e-waste disposal.
Environmental groups in
Kenya estimate that 3000 tons of e-wastes are disposed off in Kenya, describing
this as a time-bomb that will soon explode if not properly managed.
Experts argue that Kenya
needs to identify and map environmental impact of e-waste, capacity
constraints on disposal of e-waste and the collection system and recycling
infrastructure of e-waste to effectively tackle the e-waste problem,
The obsolete equipment
disposed off in Kenya include - computers, televisions, mobile phones,
batteries and even fridges which are highly toxic and if not handled
properly will lead to cases of cancer, respiratory and skin diseases due
to poisonous by-products such as lead cadmium and mercury.
Worse still many
households and organisations have not adopted the art of safe e-waste disposal
and often ‘dead’ electronics find way to garbage sites across the country.
This is despite CFSK’s
capacity to handle more e-waste.
The Safaricom Head of
Corporate Responsibilities Ms. Sanda Ojiambo said the grinder will enable
CFSK’s cope with an increase in e-waste disposal by organisations that are
continually upgrading their electronics.
“We regard the
Foundation’s donation as part of a multi-stakeholder Private Public Partnership
effort in tackling e-waste,” said Ms. Ojiambo.
The Executive Director of
CFSK, Dr. Thomas Musili said the grinder grinds 500 kilos of ABS an hour,
equivalent to 4 tons of powder a day. “We now need another machine to
mould the shredded plastics,” said Dr. Musili.
The donation from
Safaricom Foundation comes even as environmental experts are now urging for the
formulation and adoption of clear policy guidelines to tackle the problem of e-waste
management, which is increasingly becoming a major environmental concern.
CFSK, which got its first
e-waste grinding machine in 2009, has so far ground over 20 tons of ABS
plastics. Plans are underway to purchase an extruder machine for moulding the
product to manufacture fencing poles and other building materials.
Internationally, China,
India and Pakistan are leading as countries that receive much of the world’s
e-waste. Kenya is not spared and though not handling as much e-waste as the
three countries mentioned, it is in bad shape since no formal systems exist for
recycling of e-waste.
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