There is not one recycler in SA that meets the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum's minimum standards, according to Keith Anderson, chairman of the e-waste association of SA (eWASA).
Anderson spoke at the ITWeb Green IT Summit in Johannesburg this week, saying the fault did not necessarily lie with local recyclers, as a lack of legislative guidance has resulted in confusion over standards.
He stressed the need for sustainable and environmentally sound e-waste management, adding that while e-waste is one of smallest waste streams worldwide, it is the fastest growing. “We need to make sure we put in sustainable plans because we have one planet to sustain us, and our consumption of resources is becoming a severe problem.”
While Europe has put stringent measures and processes in place regarding the disposal of WEEE, Anderson said South African businesses and government need to take the local context into account. He noted that many companies adopt a 'wait-and-see' attitude, arguing that if there's no legislation compelling them to implement thorough e-waste policies, they see no reason to.
But this strategy could be short-sighted, according to Anderson, as companies may be forced to play catch-up when regulations do come in. “If legislation comes down on you that you haven't prepared for, you can incur massive costs to retrofit your business to comply with this legislation.”
He urged organisations to join eWASA in order to work towards a common standard for sustainable e-waste management before legislation becomes compulsory.
“When we sat down with DEAT [the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism] and the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] on the national waste act, we told them not to make it too prescriptive, because it will be a barrier to entry,” explained Anderson.
Wasteland
Africa has become the dumping ground for the world's e-waste, according to Anderson, who added that Nigeria is the single biggest dumping site for e-waste.
“Africa is a continent of vast resources and we run the risk of pillaging these resources.” Anderson noted that e-waste has serious implications for communities living near dumping grounds, because as soon as equipment is exposed to the elements, the heavy metals begin leaking into the soil. Waste sites often sit next to rivers, resulting in tons of e-waste running into these streams. “In a year's time there are going to be serious challenges in SA surrounding water,” he predicted.
Anderson recently met with the president of the WEEE Forum and discussed the e-waste situation in Africa. A plan emerged to develop an Africa Forum to deal with the unique challenges the continent faces regarding e-waste. “There's significant interest and genuine commitment to solve the problems,” said Anderson.
Ultimately, according to Anderson, it comes down to a policy of 'the polluter pays'. “Whoever manufactures the product must be held accountable for its entire life cycle, from cradle to grave.” He suggested implementing an advanced recycling fee, where vendors pay a fee to a regulatory body like eWASA, which will then ensure a reputable recycler collects items and disposes of them responsibly, with the objective of 'zero landfill', where nothing goes back to the landfill.
In future, Anderson hopes to embark on projects in various tiers, from ground-level to the actual refurbishers. One initiative, for example, involves approaching communities that survive off landfills by extracting old computers, microwaves and fridges.
Anderson said eWASA has plans to register each landfill site as an SMME, provide technical training on topics like heavy metals, and link these sites with refurbishers and recyclers which would come on a regular basis and put the equipment into the formal recycling channel.
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