New plant to trigger Kenya’s e-cycling

Kenya – The fight in Kenya to counter growing volumes of e-scrap will gain momentum with the opening of a new recycling plant in Nairobi, ‘BiztechAfrica’ reports. The new factory will be a collaboration between Hewlett-Packard (HP), East African Compliant Recycling (EACR) and German investment and development firm DEG.

E-waste management expert EACR says operations will begin at the site before the year is out. The plant’s e-waste management system will span collection, separation, dismantling as well as recycling and resource recovery, it adds. The material treated will include domestic appliances like ICT electronics and mobile phones.

Initially, there will be four collection points, each working with a network of registered informal sector workers, the partners point out. ‘We firmly believe that e-waste management holds opportunities in skills transfer and revenue generation that can be turned into drivers for incorporating Africa’s informal recycling networks into economically, ethically and environmentally sustainable systems,’ comments Charles Kuria, managing director of HP Kenya.

Figures for 2010 from the United Nations Environment Programme suggest Kenya generated some 11 400 tonnes of refrigerators, 2800 tonnes of television sets, 2500 tonnes of computers, 500 tonnes of printers and 150 tonnes of mobile phones.

EACR’s ceo Robert Truscott says: ‘It has been a lifelong ambition to establish sustainable and profitable e-waste recycling in Africa, where the amount of e-waste is expected to grow and modern recycling methods are rarely established.’

He believes this project can make a difference, stressing that participants in ‘all aspects of the recycling system’ will be trained to ensure adherence to ‘globally recognised’ health and environmental standards.

For more information, visit: www.eastafricancompliantrecycling.net