Please refer to the attached file. By Sanusi Tejan Savage Every 14 October is International Electronic Waste (E-waste) day, and the theme this year was, “Fast tech! Don’t bin it! Bring it! ”. This comes at a time when small, affordable electronic products have increasingly become part of everyday life. This day bids us to think about the technology we use and what happens when we no longer need it. Earphones, charging cables, solar lamps, mini fans and decorative lights are some examples of technology that is becoming more portable, accessible and quickly replaceable. However, what makes them attractive to the customers is the very thing that makes them easily disposed of once no longer functional creating electronic waste. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 reports that E-waste is being generated five times faster than it is formally recycled. In Uganda about 41, 000 tonnes is produced annually, with small household and consumer equipment accounting for about 19, 000 tonnes. A national baseline survey also found that 75. 3 per cent of respondents stored devices they no longer used, while only 3. 6 per cent returned them to vendors and 2. 6 per cent took them to a local recycling centre. When obsolete equipment is dumped with ordinary household waste, dismantled without appropriate safeguards, burned or simply abandoned, we are not making the problem disappear. They can contaminate the environment and create hazards for the very communities that development efforts seek to strengthen. In the refugee hosting areas, this issue is especially important. Uganda has rightly expanded access to energy, connectivity and technology in communities historically left behind Walk through many refugee-hosting areas in Uganda and you will see the unmistakable signs of a changing world: mobile phones, solar home systems, radios, televisions, computers, batteries, charging equipment and other electrical devices are a huge part of everyday life and now support education, communication, financial services and livelihoods for refugees and host communities. This is welcome progress. But every device eventually reaches the end of its useful life, and development should not leave behind a toxic legacy. There is another side to this challenge where electronic devices contain components that can be repaired, reused or recovered. With the right systems, E-waste can become part of a circular economy in which equipment is collected, repaired, refurbished or recycled and safely stored while valuable materials are recovered. This can protect the environment while creating livelihood opportunities and providing raw materials to create new products. This is what informed IOM’s work in West Nile through an Innovation Norway funded project, where refugees and host-community members are participating in a circular economy initiative that collects, repairs and reuses discarded solar equipment and batteries. A community-owned cooperative employing 30 refugees and host-community youth has been established and formally registered, bringing collectors and repairers into more organised value chains. More than 9, 000 solar lanterns have already been repaired and thousands of battery cells recovered for reuse. The experience shows that communities affected by E-waste can also become central to solving it. The response, however, cannot rest with communities alone. Government must establish and enforce clear systems for a circular economy for managing E-waste, while local governments integrate it into ordinary waste management processes. Technology companies, importers and distributors must take responsibility for the products they place on the market. If you sell a battery, solar system, phone or other electronic device, there should be a credible answer to a simple question: where does it go when it dies? Humanitarian and development organizations have a responsibility ensuring that projects promoting solar energy, digital inclusion or technology-based livelihoods should include end-of-life plans for obsolete equipment. Informal collectors and repairers should be supported to work safely and become part of formal recovery systems, rather than being pushed aside. You and I can act too. Before throwing away a damaged phone, charger, battery or appliance, we can consider repair, reuse, return or safe collection. We can ask sellers about take-back options and resist treating every faulty device as disposable. If we bring technology into a community, we must also take responsibility for its afterlife. Uganda’s refugee-hosting districts should not become dumping grounds for yesterday’s technology. They can instead help demonstrate how energy access, digital inclusion, green jobs and environmental protection can buttress one another. On this International E-Waste Day, let us ensure that today’s technology creates lasting opportunity, not tomorrow’s toxic legacy. _______________________________________________ Mr Sanusi Tejan Savage is the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Uganda.
Uganda: Electronic Waste: Turning a Toxic Challenge into Economic Opportunity
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