- According to data from the Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Authority (RURA) huge quantities of old phones are dumped creating health and environmental hazards as they contain toxic substances.
Rwanda plans to step up its e-waste recycling facility by recycling old mobile phones. According to data from the Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Authority (RURA) huge quantities of old phones are dumped creating health and environmental hazards as they contain toxic substances.
Enviroserve-Rwanda, a facility dedicated to electronic and electrical waste recycling, plans to collect old phones. Though the facility has the capacity to recycle up to 10,000 tons of e-waste a year it recycles less than 30 percent of the capacity. It is planning a joint project with telecommunication companies like MTN and starting a campaign to offer smartphones against old feature phones purchased at MTN. Enviroserve will collect these feature phones from the telecom companies and dispose of them safely.
The company claims that since 2018, it has collected and recycled over 6, 000 tons of e-waste, and refurbished 7, 500 computers. Almost 70 percent of these computers have gone back to school.
Also read; https://trendsnafrica.com/5g-to-drive-rwandas-digital-economy/
https://trendsnafrica.com/us-tells-rwanda-not-to-support-m23/
It has also started treating solar e-waste like batteries and cables by setting up collection points in different districts of the country to help solar companies drop off their solar waste. According to projections, solar waste could increase to 11,400 tons in 2022 as off-grid energy is scaled up.
