eWaste Management in Western Africa

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e-Waste Managementin Western Africa
Mathias Schluep, David RochatEMPA Swiss
Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and
Technologywww.empa.chSt-Gallen / Switzerland
SBC Geneva, 16-17 May 2009
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Introduction

• A bit of History
• The Problem
• Assessment Process Components 1 and 2
• Assessment Methodology
• Conclusions
• Tentative Project Approach

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I. A bit of history (1)

• EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials
  Testing Research
• independent, neutral institution for
  multidisciplinary research into sustainable
  materials and systems engineering.
• competence center for e-waste hosted by the
  technology and society laboratory
• technical monitoring control centre for e-waste
  on behalf of the Swiss PRO
• Experienced in e-waste since the mid-90s!
• Managing the Swiss global e-waste programme
  knowledge partnerships in e-waste management.
  Projects in India, China, South Africa, Colombia,
  Peru

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I. A bit of history (2)

• The fight against digital divide results in
  massive imports of used and new computers in
  developing countries, especially in Africa
• e-waste will become one of the major challenges
  in the field of waste management in developing
  countries
• Several initiatives are looking for solutions to
  prevent the problem
• Swiss e-Waste Programme (Seco/ Empa) in South
  Africa
• e-Waste Management in Africa (HP/ DSF/ Empa in
  Morocco, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa.
• Including Recycling in a refurbishment centre
  (Unido/ Microsoft/ Empa) in Uganda
• and more.

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II. The problem (1)
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II. The problem (2)
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II. The problem (3)
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II. The problem (4)
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II. The problem (5)

• Before implementing a suitable e-waste
  management system, it is necessary to assess the
  current situation in a relatively short time
• Questions what to assess?
• How does e-waste and 2nd hand EEE enter the
  country?
• Component 1
• How is imported and domestic e-waste managed
  within the country?
• Component 2
• E-waste assessment methodology developed by Empa
  for component 2
• Methodology for component 1 to be developed (life
  experience)

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III. The assessment process (1)

• defining the organizational setup of the
  assessment study

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III. The assessment process (2)

• Mission of the international expert (approx. 1
  week)
• Mobilisation of local stakeholders and
  constitution of the national e-waste strategy
  group
• Technical training of the local expert (general
  knowledge on e-waste and training for assessment)
• Public announcement of the project
• Assessment study (approx. 12 months)
• Collection of data Field visits
• Technical report
• Workshop organised by the national strategy group
• Conclusions of the assessment study are discussed
• Design of a roadmap or implementing an e-waste
  management system
• ? The technical report and the roadmap are used
  for further actions

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IV. Assessment methodology (1) - Project scope
and objectives

• Explicit definition of the projects objectives
• Define geographical scope (cities, regions,
  transboundary movements, etc)
• Define which are the studied equipments (PC,
  laptops, TVs, mobile phones)
• Modes of data acquisition
• Literature reviews and statistical data
  (websites, publications, statistics,)
• Meetings and workshops (resource people,
  stakeholder meetings, focus groups)
• Field investigation (wild dump sites, 2nd hand
  markets, informal recycling sector, etc)

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IV. Assessment methodology (2) country
background

• Understanding of the countrys characteristics
  (WDI)
• Allows better interpretation of the assessments
  results
• Shows which alternatives are possible for the
  countrys e-waste problem
• Allows comparisons with other countries

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IV. Assessment methodology (3) country
background

• e-waste related policies and legislations
• General environment legislations (air, water,
  solid waste, hazardous waste, etc.)
• Specific laws applying to e-waste, if any
• Social legislations / policies (child labor,
  workers rights, programs fostering employment,
  etc.) ? informal sectors
• Institutional framework
• Organization of the legislative, executive and
  judiciary systems in the context of waste
  management
• Governmental bodies related to environmental
  management, at local and national level
  (ministries, municipalities, administrations,
  etc.)

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IV. Assessment methodology (4) Stakeholder
analysis

• Identify the actors involved and their role in
  e-waste management by groups of stakeholders
• Who are they? How are they organised?
• Whats their role?
• What impact do they have on e-waste management?
• Stakeholders interest in e-waste management
• What are their motivations?
• Possible coalitions and conflicts
• ? Set of qualitative and quantitative indicators

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IV. Assessment methodology (5) Stakeholder
analysis
Component 1
Component 2
v
v
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List of stakeholders involved in e-waste
management (1)
IV. Assessment methodology (6) Stakeholder
analysis
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List of stakeholders involved in e-waste
management (2)
IV. Assessment methodology (7) Stakeholder
analysis
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IV. Assessment methodology (8) Mass flow
assessment

• the stakeholder analysis allowed to
• map the interconnections between the different
  actors
• Gather indicators to quantify e-waste flows and
  stocks
• Mass flow assessment is a way to describe and
  quantify flows and stocks in a simplified system,
  it obeys to 2 sets of equations
• Mass balance equations ?S SFin SFout
• Parametric equations Fi1 f (ki1, Fi, S)
• F flow
• S Stock
• K is the transfer coefficient

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IV. Assessment methodology (9) impact overview

• The objective is to highlight in a qualitative
  way where the priorities are (environmental,
  social and economic)

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IV. Assessment methodology (10) conclusions
recommendations

• Participants from 6 African countries have
  participated to the Durban conference in Oct.
  2008
• Formulation of Durban Declaration, recommending
  to
• create a national work group including all
  relevant stakeholders
• integrate the regional and international network
  
• conduct a baseline assessment and publicly share
  the data
• Propose a roadmap based on the findings of the
  national work group
• examine synergies with neighbouring countries
• develop feasibility studies
• implement and evaluate pilot activities.

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IV. Assessment methodology (11) conclusions
recommendations

• Formulation of specific recommendations for the
  following fields
• Policy and legislation
• Industry involvement and producer responsibility
• Technology and Infrastructures
• Monitoring and Data collection
• Awareness and education
• National and international exchange platforms

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Conclusions

• The methodology provides a good overview of the
  situation ? allows to draw a roadmap for
  implementation
• The methodology was improved after being tested
  in various countries
• Some difficulties and necessary adjustments
  appeared
• Need for a proper training to the methodology of
  the local expert
• mass flow analysis often relies on poor data and
  provides a rough assessment
• unregulated imports of e-waste and 2nd hand
  equipments remain difficult to assess ? need to
  dedicate time and resource (component 1!)
• the standardized approach of the methodology
  sometimes leads to confusion, as some common
  expressions are understood differently among
  stakeholders and cultures

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Tentative Project Approach (1/2)

• Start with Nigeria ( Benin) for Comp 1 2
• Realize synergies for Comp 3 (Öko Institut)
  especially with Comp 2 (national e-waste strategy
  group, stakeholder assessment)
• Generate life experience for Comp 1 and refine
  approach for other countries
• Include preleminary results from Comp 1 European
  harbours (Öko Institut)
• Execute Comp 1 in the other target countries

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Tentative Project Approach (2/2)

• Include the StEP network to improve quality of
  the work and include the major international
  stakeholders
• Major industry involvement (manufacturer,
  recyclers, )
• Broad participation of other UN organizations
• Includes some relevant governmental bodies (US
  EPA, Seco, GTZ, )
• Gives access to the scientific community active
  in research related to e-waste.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

• http//ewasteguide.info

mathias.schluep_at_empa.ch david.rochat_at_empa.ch
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Tentative Timeplan