African countries urgently need national e-waste management strategies to tackle the rising levels of electronic waste across the continent. A study by Gilbert and Vasiliki indicates that e-waste quantity in Africa could rise to 4 million tonnes per year by 2030. With such an increase, the environmental, health, and social negative impacts of e-wastes will keep escalating.

The urgency with which Africa needs e-waste recycling strategies cannot be ignored. The cost of inaction will cripple the continent’s uptake of technology and further the e-waste mismanagement crisis. Such strategies therefore make solutions that are thought of as far-fetched or out of reach accessible and implementable. They provide a roadmap to a better, sustainable future that Africa needs.

According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, 13 countries in Africa had an e-waste policy, legislation or regulation in place. The successful implementation of these policies can be realized through effective national e-waste management strategies.

The Importance of Having a National E-Waste Recycling Strategy

Formalizing the Informal Sector

The collection of e-waste, like other types of waste, is currently dominated by the informal sector, which lacks the required structures to adequately perform the task. A national e-waste collection and recycling strategy is therefore crucial to facilitate the formalization of the sector. This will consequently improve the quality of waste collected, aiding the recovery process by adopting proper waste management practices like segregation at source. Uncontaminated waste is easier to process and gets more value.

Unlocking Economic Opportunities

Another key significance of a national e-waste recycling strategy is to maximize the economic benefit that arises from recycling. The intervention of the state through strategic solutions will fast-track the growth of the sector, enabling scalability. This, in turn, will unlock opportunities for funding and investment, and economic benefits such as the creation of green jobs.

Fostering Innovation and Technological Advancement

A national e-waste recycling strategy will also make room for technological and innovative solutions to be adopted, providing opportunities for young innovators to explore better recycling approaches that are safer for both the public and the environment. Such innovations will give rise to long-term solutions that will make the future of e-waste management more advanced and economically viable.

The Process of Developing an Effective E-Waste Recycling Strategy

1. Conducting a Comprehensive Gap Analysis

Though different nations may have different approaches to e-waste management, the underlying framework will still bear similarities. A good e-waste recycling strategy, just like any other strategy, must be relevant in its ability to resolve the problem in question. Therefore, the process of developing the strategy should be thorough.

The Regional e-Waste Management Strategy guides that prior to developing the strategy, there needs to be an in-depth gap analysis to identify all systemic weaknesses. A holistic approach; reviewing policies, regulations, procedures, and practices—should be applied to exhaustively capture the loopholes exacerbating the crisis.

2. Benchmarking Against Global Best Practices

A benchmark analysis is highly recommended to derive a comparative basis for learning from the initiatives that other nations are using to recycle their e-waste. This will shed light on approaches that are realizable and applicable, especially if those nations being benchmarked share a similar context with the base nation.

3. Engaging Stakeholders for Inclusive Strategy Development

Besides the benchmark analysis, another key process to undertake before forming a national e-waste recycling strategy is a rigorous stakeholder engagement exercise. The IFC Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability offers guidance on applicable stakeholder engagement processes. Both internal and external stakeholders should be considered in this phase to enable the country to understand the material topics that carry significant implications within the e-waste management sector.

Internal stakeholders, in this case, will include the associated ministries, such as the Ministry of Lands and Environment, the Ministry of Industrialization, and others. Important associations that could have direct links to e-waste, policy makers, legal practitioners, green entrepreneurs, electronics businesses, and citizens in general form a key part of internal stakeholders whose inputs will shape the strategy.

External stakeholders, such as international organizations or associations like UN bodies, should also be engaged to ensure the strategy formed retains international relevance. Findings gathered during stakeholder engagement will then be used to prepare a materiality matrix. In this context, a materiality matrix is a prioritization tool that assesses factors that directly affect the e-waste recycling process, with rankings considering those with the highest impact.

4. Formulating Strategic Recommendations

An effective e-waste recycling strategy must then considerably address the gaps identified during the gap analysis and the material issues significant to the e-waste recycling process. Facets of the strategy will include reforms or the formation of policies, laws, regulations, and practices that support the e-waste recycling process. Recommendations offered then become the framework of the strategy, informing key activities that need to be undertaken to realize maximum benefit from recycling e-waste.

5. Setting Clear Goals and Performance Indicators

To ensure that the desired results are achieved, the e-waste recycling strategy will require clear goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress. Goals can be set for the short, medium, and long terms. Short-term goals can target activities that are easy to implement, while long-term goals will require heavy resource investment to realize.

Factors That Enable the Successful Implementation of an E-Waste Recycling Strategy

Government Ownership and Governance Structures

The government will need to take ownership of the national e-waste recycling strategy and provide a governance structure to effect it. This need not be an independent governance structure; rather, existing structures within associated ministries can be utilized to adopt the strategy and oversee its implementation.

Public-Private Partnerships for Scalability

It is also key to note the importance of public-private partnerships in realizing an effective e-waste recycling strategy. This will pave the way for already existing innovative e-waste management and recycling solutions within the country to receive government support for scalability. Such support can take the form of subsidies or incentives that ease the recycling business and make it more investor-lucrative.

Access to Funding and Financial Support

Provision for access to funding is another critical element that must be addressed in the national e-waste recycling strategy. This should target available green funds in the global space, such as green bonds and funding provided by Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to enable sustainable initiatives. A comprehensive structural e-waste recycling strategy by itself will ease access to international funding.

Continuous Monitoring and Evaluation

Finally, continuous monitoring and evaluation of the strategy should be employed to refine it by enhancing activities that yield better results and eliminating those that prove ineffective. In the long run, such a strategy will enable African nations to arrive in the tech-enabled future fully prepared.