As a result of globalization, the quantity and generation rate of solid waste in africa have increased tremendously and this calls for the need to salvage the situation before it gets out of hand. Much of this waste ends up in the developing world, where regulation is lax. Municipal solid waste management services in africa. Electronic devices are essential to business operations.
E waste legislation in south africa by lene ecroignard, ewasa with electronic waste e waste considered a growing problem worldwide, a group of concerned south africans have formed a work ing group to address these issues. Modern life is filled with televisions, mobile phones, and other electronics. Informal ewaste recycling in african countries is a serious public health threat. The concern for the increasing pace of electronic waste generated is urging many countries including mauritius to develop and adopt measures to relieve and control the trend.
Challenge the challenge solve the puzzles of logistics infrastructure technology and resources required to embark on developing and funding operational hubs and facilities to start the ball rolling on collection of ewaste in. Mar 05, 2018 ghana is the first country in africa to launch official guidelines for sustainable ewaste recycling management, said mr. The ewaste association of south africa ewasa was established in 2008 to manage the establishment of a sustainable environmentally sound ewaste management system for the country. Technology advances so quickly that many of these items become obsolete just. The pan african forum on ewaste adopted a call for action on ewaste in africa. Pdf assessing the ewaste situation in africa researchgate.
Lagos, 19 june 2019 an ambitious new project launched in lagos today is aiming to reform the electronics sector and put an end to the toxic toll improper management of electronic waste is taking on nigeria. Moreover, the current and the future production of e waste, the potential environmental problems associated with their disposal and management practices are discussed whereas the existing e waste management schemes in greece and other countries japan, switzerland are also quoted. Ewaste management in east african community edgar napoleon asiimwe edgarnapoleon. The global impact of ewaste addressing the challenge the global impact of ewaste addressing the challenge safework programme on safety and health at work and the environment international labour office safework 4, route des morillons ch1211 geneve 22 switzerland tel. With the advent of mainstreaming of information and communications technology, the issue of e waste becomes apparent. Moreover, the current and the future production of ewaste, the potential environmental problems associated with their disposal and management practices are discussed whereas the existing ewaste management schemes in greece and other countries japan, switzerland are also quoted. Dec 12, 2015 that same united nations university report. Ghana is the first country in africa to launch official guidelines for sustainable ewaste recycling management, said mr. Beyond the evidences that ewaste represents a threat to the. Waste management in urban centres of east africa has for a long time been centralised liyala 2011, with the useof imported refuse truck rotich et al.
Mir market intelligence report mrf material recovery facility msa municipal systems act, no. Different levels of canadian government control different aspects of e. Electronic waste is recycled in appalling conditions in india. Ewaste africa project the ewaste africa project is a comprehensive programme aiming at enhancing the environmental governance of ewastes and at creating favorable social and economic conditions for partnerships and small businesses in the recycling sector in africa. E waste africa project the e waste africa project is a comprehensive programme aiming at enhancing the environmental governance of e wastes and at creating favorable social and economic conditions for partnerships and small businesses in the recycling sector in africa. Near the slum called old fadama, the agbogbloshie site became known as a destination for externally generated automobile and electronic scrap collected from mostly the western world.
E waste collection data from o 4cial taneeacn systems annex 3. Electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices. This publication was produced by the global ewaste statistics partnership. Facilitating international dialogue hosting step secretariat. And the challenge of logistics which nobody wanted to investigate africa a risk project. The benin ewaste country assessment, comprising components 1 and 2 of the secretariat of the basel convention ewaste africa project, was undertaken between november 2009 and may 2011, with a main focus on the cotonou area and on various entry points of used eee and weee into the country. Sabia southern african biogas industry association saewa south african ewaste alliance salga south african local government association sanedi south african national energy development institute sava southern african vinyls association sawis south african waste information system sez special economic zone smes small and mediumsized enterprises. E waste quantification studies global e waste monitor 2014 prosum prospecting the urban mine, 20152017 3. Ewaste management in developing countries with a focus on africa dr.
Ewaste legislation in south africa by lene ecroignard, ewasa with electronic waste ewaste considered a growing problem worldwide, a group of concerned south africans have formed a work ing group to address these issues. Since then, the nonprofit organisation has been working with manufacturers, vendors and distributors of electronic and electrical goods and ewaste handlers including refurbishers. E waste is one of the fastest growing pollution problems globally but particularly in africa, given the presence of a variety of toxic substances which can contaminate the environment and threaten human health because of the primitive way of recycling and poorly managed disposal protocols. Right now there are strict waste guidelines enacted by certain countries, however we as a humane society need to address this issue globally. Ewaste, or waste electrical and electronic equipment, is an emerging and fastgrowing waste. Susanne yvonne karcher saewa southern african ewaste alliance. Ewaste is one of the fastest growing types of waste in the world. The organisation for economic cooperation and development oecd estimates that in 20 around 712,000 people in africa died as a consequence of dirty air, which was a 36% increase from 1990. Ewaste management, disposal and its impacts on the. The call for action outlines a set of priorities to support development of a regional approach for the legal transboundary movements and the environmentally sound management of ewaste for the african continent to protect human health and the environment as well as to promote opportunities for social and economic. China processed about 70% of the worlds ewaste in 2012 4. Informal collection and recycling in developing countries. For the waste sector in south africa this means care must be given to raw material use, product design, resource efficiency, waste prevention, and minimization where avoidance is impossible.
To achieve this, a baseline assessment of the extent of the e waste challenge faced in south africa is necessary. Jun 01, 2016 e waste, the term given to discarded electronic appliances, is often shipped by developed nations to poorer countries such as ghana. E waste management is an issue in africa because of the increasing global production of electronic and electrical equipment, lack of clear action plans by african governments on the handling of e waste, and the absence of infrastructure for appropriate e waste management. Ewaste management in developing countries with a focus on. To achieve this, a baseline assessment of the extent of the ewaste challenge faced in south africa is necessary. Used electronic devices are often discarded in the cheapest way possible to some of the worlds poorest countries. The burning truth behind an ewaste dump in africa ending the toxic smoke rising from an iconic dump in ghana will take more than curbing western waste. Through this multiyear effort, epa, unusolving the e waste problem step and the gef assessed the state of e waste in ethiopia, studied national and international downstream markets for certain e waste components, and identified financing models for sound e waste management in ethiopia.
But globally, the ecofriendly recycling of ewaste is optimally low. Electronic waste university of california, berkeley. Even when ewaste rules exist, its left up to consumers to handle their old devices properly. Ban coordinator jim puckett, who visited nigeria as part of that investigation, saw enormous piles of ewaste throughout the countryside, much of it routed through lagos, africas largest port. Ewaste management is an issue in africa because of the increasing global production of electronic and electrical equipment, lack of clear action plans by african governments on the handling of ewaste, and the absence of infrastructure for appropriate ewaste management. Ewaste quantification studies global ewaste monitor 2014 prosum prospecting the urban mine, 20152017 3.
The e waste africa project is a comprehensive programme aiming at enhancing the environmental governance of e wastes and at creating favorable social and economic conditions for partnerships and small businesses in the recycling sector in africa. The ewaste africa project is a comprehensive programme aiming at enhancing the environmental governance of ewastes and at creating favorable social and. Municipal solid waste management mswm system in east africa has changed from the colonial days in the 40s, 50s and. Ewaste is one of the fastest growing pollution problems globally but particularly in africa, given the presence of a variety of toxic substances which can contaminate the environment and threaten human health because of the primitive way of recycling and poorly managed disposal protocols. Meeting the challenge of ewaste in africa basel convention. Safe ewaste recycling has enormous economic potential, with 100 times more gold in a tonne of ewaste than in a tonne of gold ore. Ghanas way towards sustainable ewaste recycling first.
Search terms included ewaste in africa, ewaste in developing nations, public health and ewaste, environment and ewaste, and ewaste and health. Aktsoglou department of production engineering and management, school of engineering, democritus university of thrace, 67100, xanthi, greece. Agbogbloshie is a nickname of a commercial district on the korle lagoon of the odaw river, near the center of accra, ghanas capital city. Aug 19, 20 europes electronic waste has become africas burden august 19, 20 1. Waste problem initiative step, the united nations and various organizations are tracking the generation, collection and export of used electronics. Sims recycling solutions electronics and it recycling centre in durban provides ewaste recycling services and it asset services such as it recycling, to organisations in and around durban, south africa. Domestic e waste generated per country in 2014 annex 2. This steady reduction shows the success of controls on the shipment of ewaste to africa. West africa turns into dumping ground for ewaste pcworld. Ban coordinator jim puckett, who visited nigeria as part of that investigation, saw enormous piles of ewaste throughout the countryside, much of it routed through lagos, africa s largest port. Ewaste management, disposal and its impacts on the environment. The burning truth behind an ewaste dump in africa smithsonian.
We saw people using ewaste to fill in swamps, puckett recalls. Ewaste management in east african community worldloop. Whenever the piles got too high, they would torch them. Based on the standard methodology, the studies map the relevant. Ewaste management in developing countries with a focus.
The global ewaste monitor united nations university. Mathias schluep program director of the world resources forum and lead coordinator of the international sri programme. Capacity building and training e waste academies global, 2009now 4. Solid waste management in african cities east africa.
Elevated levels of ewaste pollutants in water, air, soil, dust, fish. Canada continues to allow exports of hazardous ewaste 12%. The eca makes specific reference to waste disposal in section 20. Jan 30, 2015 as measures by countries in east and southern africa to prevent the dumping of e waste take effect, west africa has become a destination for old computers, mobile devices and components. Canada continues to allow exports of hazardous ewaste to flow to developing countries in this case, china and pakistan. However, the rate of ewaste generation in ethiopia was not well understood or documented so that an inventory was needed to understand the present situation in order to determine further measures needed to ensure its environmentally sound management. Jan, 2016 the burning truth behind an e waste dump in africa ending the toxic smoke rising from an iconic dump in ghana will take more than curbing western waste. Mw megawatts nema national environmental management act, no. The rich worlds electronic waste, dumped in ghana citylab.
Managing the environmental and regulatory challenges 2 because of the complexities of identifying, handling and disposing of ewaste, companies may choose to work with experts that can help develop and manage effective risk management ewaste strategies. Unfair trade ewaste in africa article pdf available in environmental health perspectives 1144. United nations university vie scycle programmes key projects activities. South africa case study alan finlay association for progressive communications alan finlay is an ict and media researcher based in johannesburg. Guide for conducting an ewaste inventory in africa 3 ment of ewaste. As measures by countries in east and southern africa to prevent the dumping of ewaste take effect, west africa has become a destination for old computers, mobile devices and components. Informal ewaste recycling in african countries is a serious public. A report released sunday on ewaste in asian countries found a 63 percent increase in the amount of electronic waste generated when compared with five years ago and it serves as a reminder of how african nations struggle with their own ewaste challenges and creative solutions too. Electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices 153 however, larry summers, a former economist of the world bank in 1991, reportedly justifies the economic sense of the exportation of ewaste to developing countries. The e waste association of south africa ewasa was established in 2008 to manage the establishment of a sustainable environmentally sound e waste management system for the country. In ghana, the global problem of ewaste has local consequences. Pdf africa is quickly becoming a destination for information technology in the form of tons of used computers, fax machines, cell phones, and other.
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