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Assessing the e-waste situation in Africa

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Assessing the e-waste situation in Africa
Mathias Schluep*1, David Rochat1, Alice Wanjira Munyua2, Salah Eddine Laissaoui3, Salimata Wone4, Cissé
Kane5, Klaus Hieronymi6
1
Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa), St. Gallen, Switzerland
2
Kenya ICT Action Network (KiCTAnet), Nairobi, Kenya
3
Moroccan Cleaner Production Centre, Casablanca, Morocco
4
African Institute for Urban Management (IAGU), Dakar, Senegal
5
Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), Geneva, Switzerland
6
Hewlett Packard GmbH, Böblingen, Germany

* Corresponding Author, mathias.schluep@empa.ch, +41 71 274 7857

Abstract
Based on experiences gained in the “Global Swiss e-Waste Programme”, a generic e-waste assessment method-
ology was developed. The methodology is currently applied within the project “e-Waste Management in Africa”,
which was launched in 2007 by Hewlett Packard, the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) and the Swiss Fed-
eral Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa). e-Waste assessment studies were started in Mo-
rocco, Kenya and Senegal and South Africa. Based on the standard methodology, the studies map the relevant
stakeholders, estimate e-waste stocks and flows through a massflow assessment, analyze the policy landscape, as
well as the social, economic and environmental impacts of e-waste in the countries. Besides a coherent discus-
sion of the methodology this paper presents some preliminary results from various African countries.

methodology is to cover similar aspects in various

1 Introduction
Managing e-waste flows in developing countries, es-
pecially in Africa, where the fight against digital di-
vide is promoting massive imports of used and new
computers, has become one of the major challenges of
the continent in the field of waste management [1, 2].
In order to implement the most suitable e-waste man-
agement system, and to present a bankable project to
international funding agencies, it is necessary to ac-
quire a detailed knowledge of the current situation in
a relatively short time. However it has often appeared
that it is not an easy task to make an assessment of the
e-waste landscape in a developing nation, where ac-
cess to data may be difficult, and where e-waste man-
agement largely relies on an informal sector not cov-
ered by statistical data [3].
Thus, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials
Testing and Research (Empa) has developed an e-
waste assessment methodology, based on the experi-
ence gained in the several partner countries of the
“Global Swiss e-Waste Programme” [2] 1 . The meth-
odology was further developed into a generic guid-
ance manual for the HP-DSF-Empa project “e-Waste
Management in Africa” [4] in Kenya, Morocco, Sene-
gal and South Africa. The objective of a generic
1
http://ewasteguide.info
countries in a systematic manner, so that the results
may be comparable and easily updated.
This paper presents the most important elements of
the methodology. It aims to provide guidance to any
researcher to conduct an e-waste country assessment
study. In addition the paper presents a few prelimi-
nary results from assessment studies, which are cur-
rently performed in various African countries.
2 Assessment process
The first step consists in defining the organizational
setup of the assessment study. This not only means
structuring the assessment team, but also identifying
the local stakeholder(s) to whom the study results will
be delivered, and who will take ownership of the e-
waste problem in the country.
The assessment team comprises an international ex-
pert, experienced with the methodology and assess-
ments in various countries, and a local expert who ac-
tually conducts the study in the field. The assessment
team is supervised by a steering committee composed
of members of the funding agency and the programme
management.
In order to deliver results to the relevant stakeholders,
and to respond to the country's expectations regarding
e-waste management, the general adopted approach

Electronics Goes Green 2008+, 8-10 September 2008, Berlin/Germany 1

consists in setting up a so called national e-waste
strategy group, comprising representatives of relevant
stakeholders related to the e-waste problem. This na-
tional group is headed by a local leader, generally
from the ministry of environment (but not exclu-
sively), and comprises representatives of the IT indus-
try, various ministries, economic sectors, NGOs and
academia. The constitution of such a multi-
stakeholder platform ensures that the further imple-
mentation of a proper e-waste management system
will not be rejected by one or another interest group,
as all strategic decisions resulting from the assess-
ment study are debated and adopted within the group.
Steering committee
- funding agency
- programme management
National e-waste
strategy group
Assessment team - government
- international expert - industry
- local expert - academia
- civil society
- other interest groups
Figure 1: Organizational setup of an e-waste as-
sessment study
Chronologically, the study starts with a first mission
(usually one week) of the international expert com-
prising the following objectives:
• The mobilisation of local stakeholders and con-
stitution of the national e-waste strategy group.
This results from a round of discussions with
relevant stakeholders, where the scope of the
project and their participation and support is dis-
cussed. The national group is formally consti-
tuted during an initial workshop, where the ob-
jectives of the assessment study are explicitly
formulated and agreed upon. Generally, a press
release follows the workshop, which ensures
that the public is informed and that the national
group actually takes ownership of the e-waste
problem
• The technical training of the local expert. The
local expert is introduced to general knowledge
about e-waste management issues and is trained
to the methodology. The different steps of the
assessment are planned and objectives and dead-
lines are fixed.
After the international expert's first mission, the as-
sessment is conducted for a duration of approximately
6 months. The results of the study are presented in a
technical report, which is submitted to the national e-
waste strategy group, who will accept it after revision
in a second workshop. During this workshop, both the
findings of the assessment study are exposed, and a
Electronics Goes Green 2008+, 8-10 September 2008, Berlin/Germany
roadmap for implementing a proper e-waste manage-
ment system in the country is drafted. Both the as-
sessment report and the roadmap are then used as
background documents for fund raising for an imple-
mentation phase.
3 Assessment methodology
3.1 Project scope and objectives
The objective of the project is explicitly defined as
being to support the development of a sustainable e-
waste management system in the country, where ex-
isting formal or informal structures are considered.
Besides logistical and technical issues the project es-
pecially aims to provide the necessary information to
improve the working conditions of the informal sector
and to create new employment opportunities. It is in-
tended to obtain a reliable overview of the e-waste
landscape in the selected country.
The scope of the assessment study has to be defined
by geographical focus, as well as by equipment cate-
gory. The geographical focus defines which cities
and/or regions will be focused on, whether rural areas
are considered and if transboundary movement is in-
cluded in the study.
Finally, the modes of data acquisition are also defined
and planned. Typically, the following sources of in-
formation are used:
• Literature review and statistical data: this allows
to check the current knowledge about e-waste
management in the country by reviewing spe-
cialised websites, databases and studies.
• Meetings and workshops: allows the local expert
to obtain information that would not be available
publicly directly from stakeholders, such as in-
ternal inventories, ISO audits, surveys, etc.
Field investigation: this allows the local expert to
complete information with photos, identification of
areas of activities and general observations. If needed,
relevant questionnaires are developed and surveys are
conducted.
3.2 Country background
In order to define which alternatives exist for imple-
menting an e-waste management system in the coun-
try, it is necessary to understand the country's charac-
teristics. Therefore, this section comprises first a re-
view of pre-defined development indicators (Table 1),
which provide a background for the country's devel-
opment status that may influence e-waste generation
and management, and provide a basis for comparison
between countries.
2
Table 1: world development indicators [5] with 3.3 Stakeholder analysis
possible influence on e-waste
The purpose of this section is to identify the actors
People Environment involved and their role in the e-waste management
• Total population • Land area system by groups of stakeholders, by explaining who
• Average annual population • Emissions of organic water they are, what their role is, how they are organized
growth rate pollutants
and what may be their impact on e-waste manage-
• Share of economically active • Energy use
ment. Moreover, their specific interest in e-waste
children • GDP per unit of energy use
• Unemployment • Rural population management is qualified by understanding what their
• Youth unemployment • Urban population motivations are and what strategies they can adopt to
• Population below interna- • Population in urban agglom- achieve their goal. Each group of stakeholders is
tional poverty line (Popula- erations of more than 1 mil- characterized by a set of qualitative and quantitative
tion bellow 1$ per day, popu- lion
lation below 2$ per day)
indicators, which will also provide the necessary data
• Population in largest city for calculating the e-waste mass flows further in the
• Gini index • Household size
assessment (Table 2).
Economy States & Markets
• Gross domestic product • Micro, small, and medium-
(GDP) size enterprises 3.4 Mass flow assessment
• Purchasing power parity • Tax revenue collected by The stakeholder analysis in the previous section has
(PPP) conversion factor central government
• GDP per capita • Telephones access allowed to map the interconnections between the dif-
• GDP (PPP) per capita • Households with television ferent actors potentially involved in the current e-
• GDP composition by sector • Personal computers per 1000 waste management practices, and provides a qualita-
(agriculture, industry, ser- people tive description of the "e-waste landscape" in the
vices) • Internet users per 1000 peo- country. The characterisation of the stakeholder
• Labour force by sector (agri- ple
groups also provides information, which will allow
culture, industry, services) • Information and communica-
• Consumer price index tions technology expendi-
quantifying the e-waste stocks and mass flows.
tures (% of GDP)
The mass flow assessment is a way to describe and
quantify flows and stocks of a studied material in a
In addition, the country's political and legal frame- simplified model [6]. The model is characterised by
work needs to be understood, by collecting the fol- the boundaries of the system it represents, and by fix-
lowing information: ing variables such as mass and time units (e.g.
tons/year), as well as by the flows and stocks which
are included in its limits. In general, a mass flow
E-waste related policies and legislations: model relies on two families of equations:
• General environmental legislations applying to 1. The mass balance equations, based on the mass
air, water, solid waste, hazardous wastes, etc. conservation law: ∆S = ∑Fin - ∑Fout, where:
• Specific legislation applying to e-waste, if any - ∆S is the variation of stock in a process
• Social legislations / policies applying to workers - ∑Fin is the sum of flows entering a process
of the recycling chain, e.g. regulating child la- - ∑Fout is the sum of flows leaving a process
bour, freedom of association, programs fostering
employment in the informal sector,etc. 2. The parametric equations, where flows and stocks
• International treaties and conventions, such as of the system are interdependent and can be mathe-
the Bamako convention and the Basel conven- matically related: Fi+1 = f(ki+1; Fi, S), where
tion - F is a flow
- S is the stock
Institutional framework: - k is the transfer coefficient
• Organization of the legislative, the executive and These two sets of equations allow extrapolating all
the judiciary systems with a special emphasis on flows and stocks from a given value, for example the
environmental management sales of equipments in a region. The transfer coeffi-
• Governmental bodies related to environmental cients may be parameters such as market shares, life
management and e-waste at national and if im- spans of equipments, etc.
portant at local level, such as ministries, admini-
strations, etc. Finally, once the mass flows are calculated, a graphic
representation can be made on a simplified figure
such as the mapping of stakeholders.

Electronics Goes Green 2008+, 8-10 September 2008, Berlin/Germany 3

 Table 2: List of stakeholders involved in e-waste management
Stakeholder Group Description
Producers (includ- Hardware brands and their associations (IT
ing manufacturers & association, consumer electronics, electronic
importers) components, etc...), but also of "unidentified"
producers, when the equipments are non
branded.
Distributors Anybody selling the equipments directly to the
consumers, including retailers, 2nd hand mar-
kets, organisations providing donated equip-
ments, etc.
Consumers Anybody that consumes electric and electronic
equipments and discard them as waste when
they have reached the end of their useful life.
Consumers are usually separated between
households, private sector (large and small &
medium sized enterprises) and public sector
(government, education, NGOs)
Collectors Can be collection points (municipal points,
drop-offs, retail shops) or an organised pick-up
service (formal or informal)
Refurbishers comprises all the repair units, service centres,
etc, that extend the life time of equipments and
feed the second hand market
Recyclers Any organization dismantling, separating frac-
tions, and recovering material from e-waste.
Downstream ven- the industries buying the fractions (e.g. copper,
dors plastics, metals, gold, etc.) produced by the
recyclers. They can be national or interna-
tional, and vary from jewellers to smelters,
etc..
Final disposal Organizations in charge of the final disposal of
waste through incineration or landfilling.
Most affected Communities that have – by close neighbour-
communities ship relations to collection points, recycling
centres or disposal areas – key interests in the
development of an e-waste management sys-
tem, such as the sector’s economic possibilities
or interests in limiting soil, water and air pollu-
tion.
Other stakeholders Institutions having the capacity to support the
implementation of an e-waste management
system within the country
Table 3: Impact categories
3.5 Impact overview
Social
This section does not cover a thorough impact as- Impacts
sessment, as it would be beyond the scope of a rapid • Impacts on em-
assessment. It is rather meant to highlight in a qualita-
tive way where the priorities are from a social, envi- • Impacts on local
ronmental and economic standing point (Table 3). • Impacts on soci-
Electronics Goes Green 2008+, 8-10 September 2008, Berlin/Germany
Type of information collected
(qualitative / quantitative)
- Marketing strategy, CSR programs, special economic
schemes, etc.
- Brands and market shares, growth, number of employ-
ees, % import vs. domestic, number of SMEs, etc.
- Modes of distribution, business models, take-back
schemes, etc.
- Number of retail shops, importance of 2nd hand mar-
kets, % retail vs. 2nd hand market
- Level of environmental awareness, waste management
habits, access to ITC technology, etc.
- % private vs. corporate, % rural vs urban, life span of
equipments, penetration rate (# equipments/1000
cap.), e-waste generated/cap.
- Organised or left to informal sector? Does the con-
sumer pay or is he paid for e-waste? Take-back
schemes?
- E-waste collected/cap., employment generated, in-
come per ton e-waste, etc.
- Organisation of the sector, formal or informal, etc.
- % of repairable equipments, e-waste produced by a
repair shop, lifespan of refurbished equipments, etc.
- Organisation of the sector, formal or informal, dis-
posal of hazardous fractions, etc.
- Employment generated, resulting fractions, income
per ton, % formal vs. % informal.
- Which kind of industry, local or international, formal
or informal, etc.
- % of raw material coming from e-waste, income per
ton, etc.
- Private or public, restrictions for landfill space, con-
trolled or wild landfills, infrastructure for hazardous
waste, etc.
- Landfill capacity, hazardous waste capacity, charac-
terisation of solid waste stream, % formal vs. % in-
formal, etc.
- Serious health risks to the community, quality of jobs,
impact on other socio-economic activities, etc.
- Cases of negative health impacts, number of jobs pro-
vided, share of low-skilled jobs provided, etc.
- Active in solid waste management, working with in-
formal workers, international funding agencies, uni-
versity institutes, etc.
Environmental Economic
Impacts Impacts
• Emissions to air • Positive im-
ployees and water pacts (income
• Solid waste pro- generation)
communities duction • Negative im-
• Impacts on hu- pacts (induced
ety man health costs)
• Pressure on re-
sources
• Pressure on eco-
systems
4
3.6 Conclusions and Recommendations
Finally, the e-waste assessment analyses broadly the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks
(SWOT analysis) of the country for the implementa-
tion of a sustainable e-waste management system,
based on the results of the previous sections. This
analysis allows to formulate recommendations for the
following fields:
• Policy and legislation
• Industry involvement and producer responsibil-
ity
• Technology and infrastructure
• Monitoring and data collection
• Awareness and education
• National and international exchange platforms
Then national e-waste strategy group can then use the
rapid e-waste assessment's findings and the recom-
mendations to draft a roadmap and to raise funds for
an implementation phase.
4 Case studies: preliminary results
4.1 South Africa: legislation governing
e-waste
Assessments in all the project countries suggest that
while governments are aware of the e-waste chal-
lenge, specific policy and legislative mechanisms to
deal effectively with e-waste are not yet in place. This
does not imply that those countries have no legisla-
tion covering hazardous substances or waste, or the
management and disposal thereof. Answers are cer-
tainly found in laws governing topics like the envi-
ronment, water, air, waste, hazardous substances as
well as health and safety [7]. Each of these, however,
examines the issue from a different perspective,
thereby confusing the problem. As found in a detailed
review of South African legislation governing e-waste
[8] a further difficulty is the fact that these laws are
enforced by different government departments, alter-
natively levels of government, so that there is no uni-
form approach in dealing with e-waste or hazardous
waste respectively.
In South Africa waste and the management thereof is
a function delegated to local authorities by-laws
which differ from one municipality to the other. While
this, in practical terms, does not affect e-waste man-
agement per se, some by-laws theoretically would al-
low greater control over the same. Here too, e-waste
would merely fall under the broad definition of haz-
ardous waste, and as such requiring disposal or treat-
ment. During the review of by-laws from five mu-
Electronics Goes Green 2008+, 8-10 September 2008, Berlin/Germany
nicipalities it was also found that some have a poten-
tially negative impact on recycling or collection
activities insofar as hazardous waste, storage, collec-
tion and transport are concerned. While it is debatable
to what extent e-waste should be treated in the same
manner as other hazardous waste in terms of collec-
tion, storage and transport, it nonetheless poses a pos-
sible difficulty for e-waste recyclers [8].
4.2 Kenya: life span of equipments
In Kenya a mini - survey was conducted among ~30
consumers from the private sector, the public sector
(government and NGO’s) and households [9].
The research noted that 90% of the respondents have
discarded ICT accessories of some kind. In particu-
lar, 70% have discarded desktop computers and moni-
tors, 50% have discarded notebook computers, print-
ers, telephones, photocopiers, and fax machines while
40% have discarded modems and finally 20% have
discarded flat screen (LCDs), mobile phones and tele-
visions. Over 50% of the consumers indicated that
they possessed computers for over 5 years, after
which they either gave them to friends or donated
them to schools (Figure 2).
Further, 60% indicated that the equipment was in a
broken and un-fixable state by the time they discarded
it while 10% indicated that it was in a broken but fix-
able condition. Only 20% indicated that it was in a
working condition.
50
Percents of respondents
40
30
50%
20
10 20% 20%
10%
0
0.1 - 1 1-2 4-5 over 5
Period of use before disposal (years)
Figure 2: Results from a survey in Kenya
about life span of personal computers [9]
4.3 Morocco: waste generation
In Morocco stocks in households where estimated
based on the penetration rate and national statistics
5
 [10]. Stocks in the private and public sector were de-
rived from surveys and statistics. The lifespan of
computers within each consumer group was deter-
mined with surveys. The resulting computer waste
flow was calculated by dividing the stock by the life-
span.
The private sector has the largest computer stocks and
generates two thirds of the related waste flow as the
useful life of a computer is shorter than in other con-
sumer groups (Table 4).
Nevertheless, the computer penetration rate in house-
holds is growing at a pace above 20 % per year, and
the waste flow from households will significantly in-
crease in the future. Moreover, the survey showed that
75 % of computers in households where a year old,
which characterises a relatively "young" stock. This
corresponds to the recent increase of living standards
due to the growing economy of the past few years.
Table 4: computer stocks and waste generation in
Morocco in 2007 [10]
Stock (2007) Life- Computer waste
Consumer span generation (2007)
(years)
(t) (%) (t/y)
Households 27'000 40 5 5'000
Private sector 38'000 56 3 13'000
Public sector 2'500 4 5 500
Total 67'500 100 - 18'500
5 Conclusion
The first experiences when applying the methodology
in African countries indicate that the main objective to
provide a general overview of the e-waste manage-
ment situation can be achieved. Based on the assess-
ment's results, all studied countries possess the neces-
sary information for defining a roadmap towards a
proper e-waste management system.
Nevertheless, the first surveys also revealed some dif-
ficulties and necessary adjustments:
• The methodology cannot be applied without a
proper technical training and regular follow-up
through an experienced expert.
• The mass flow analysis often relies on poor data
and only provides a rough assessment. Hence
controlling the e-waste stream asks for a proper
monitoring system and cannot rely on the meth-
odology alone.
• Illegal and unregulated imports of second hand
equipments remain difficult to assess, so that
Electronics Goes Green 2008+, 8-10 September 2008, Berlin/Germany
View publication stats
conclusions are only made on the basis of as-
sumptions and reasoning.
• The standardised approach offered by the meth-
odology sometimes leads to confusion, as some
common expressions are understood differently
among stakeholders and cultures.
6 Literature
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electronic waste (e-waste) management in de-
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waste. Environmental Impact Assessment Re-
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(%) brochure 09/2007, http://www.dsf-
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6