THE CHALLENGE OF ELECTRONIC
WASTE (E-WASTE) MANAGEMENT IN CAMEROON
The Centre for communication and sustainable
development for all (CECOSDA) supports the civil society in the fight against
poor E-waste management for the protection of the environment in Cameroon.
Information and telecommunications technology (ICT)
and computer Internet networking has penetrated nearly every aspect of modern
life, and is positively affecting human life even in the most remote areas of
developing countries at large and the State of Cameroon in particular. The
rapid growth in ICT has led to an improvement in the capacity of computers but
simultaneously to a decrease in the products lifetime as a result of which
increasingly large quantities of waste electrical and electronic equipment
(e-waste) are generated annually. ICT development in most developing countries,
particularly in Africa, depends more on secondhand most of which are imported
without confirmatory testing for functionality. As a result, large quantities
of e-waste are presently being managed in these countries. The challenges
facing the developing countries in e-waste management include: an absence of
infrastructure for appropriate waste management, an absence of legislation
dealing specifically with e-waste, an absence of any framework for end-of-life
(EoL) product take-back or implementation of extended producer responsibility
(EPR)
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is composed not only of
phones, computers, tablets, TVs, printers, scanners and all things digital; it
also includes “almost any household or business item with circuitry or
electrical components with power or battery supply” — everything from lamps to
clothes dryers — according to the United Nations University report, “Global E-Waste
Monitor 2014.”
What happens to all this e-waste?
Only 16% of the world’s e-waste was recycled by
officially sanctioned government or commercial enterprises in 2014, says the UN
report. Some e-waste was simply put in
the trash and ended up in a landfill or an incinerator. Some was collected by
individuals or private companies outside of official recycling systems (a
portion of this e-waste was refurbished for resale or processed into separate
materials).
Much of what remained entered a secondary market for
used electronics and raw materials in the developing world. When these materials are worn out, what is
required to do to protect the environment from this e-waste?
Effective management of e-waste in the developing
countries demands the implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR),
the establishment of product reuse through remanufacturing and the introduction
of efficient recycling facilities. The implementation of a global system for
the standardization and certification/labelling of secondhand appliances
intended for export to developing countries will be required to control the
export of electronic recyclables (e-scarp) in the name of secondhand
appliances.
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