HP, Camara establish new e-waste plant in Africa

As Africa continues to face the challenge of e-waste, Hewlett-Packard and the Ireland-based Camara education organization have teamed to set up a plant in Kenya to refurbish computers in order to reduce hazardous toxic pollution.

The project comes in the wake of increased interest in e-waste management by countries in the region, including Zambia and Kenya, which are pushing for new regulatory frameworks to support the recycling of obsolete computers, mobile phones, refrigerators and television sets.

Africa is experiencing increased imports of ICT equipment without a corresponding rise in recycling capacity, which has resulted in high levels of e-waste dumping by Western countries.

However, several countries in the region do not yet have the ICT policies in place that support the establishment of e-waste recycling plants. Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria and Burundi are all struggling to cope with e-waste management.

Due to a lack of laws on how to dispose of used ICT equipment, Zambia uses the technology and service neutral approach system. This system requires that all ICT equipment being imported or exported must meet international standards. But many companies and individuals fail to adhere to the policy, raising fears of health and environmental damage due to hazardous toxic waste.

"The plants in Kenya are not enough, we need to have plants in Southern Africa also because e-waste management is really proving to a big challenge in Africa," said Amos Kalunga, a telecom analyst from the Computer Society of Zambia.

The new plant in Kenya however, is expected to handle 500 metric tons of e-waste annually. Kenya is the first country in the East African region to have e-waste management plants. The first e-waste plant in Kenya was set up by Computer For Schools in Kenya (CFSK) in collaboration with the National City Council of Kenya and the Local Embakasi Community two years ago. The annual generation of e-waste in Kenya for televisions, printers, refrigerator, mobile phones and computers stands at over 17, 000 tons, according to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP).

There is currently growing protests by African governments that Africa has continued to be a dumping ground for electronic equipment from developed nations.

Most computers being imported to Africa from Europe and America cannot be upgraded or repaired and are carelessly disposed of because most African countries lack the capacity and regulatory frameworks to dispose them in an environmentally friendly way, government officials say.

Despite major recycling efforts by several electronic manufacturers, some recycling programs send electronic waste to Africa, where devices are dismantled using hammers and plastics are burned to separate out metal components.