Namibia's Green Economy

NamiGreen: Tackling E-Waste by the Tonne

As is common in many countries across the African continent – supported by an unfortunate track record of only 0.5%* for e-waste recycling – Namibia, for years, had no regulations or facilities in place for the safe disposal of broken and unwanted electronic goods.

What was left of our old computers, laptops, smartphones and coffee machines was tossed out with the usual household trash, from where it was most likely picked up by desperate opportunists looking to salvage metal scraps and material, before it eventually ended up in a landfill with other discarded items. Here, it spent the remainder of its time being slowly worn down by the elements, releasing toxic chemicals (think lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, flame retardants, PCBs and many more), poisoning the environment, creating health hazards and destroying livelihoods.

Fortunately, that kind of reckless disposal is now a thing of the past. In 2018, NamiGreen entered the scene with the goal to change the fate of electronic waste in Namibia. Although not an entirely new concept for the country – the first e-waste management centre opened in 2013 – NamiGreen as a company came into being as the result of a merger with e-waste initiator Transworld Cargo and Danish entrepreneur Per Hansen, trading as Pehansen.

It is as much the duty of the manufacturers to take responsibility for their products’ end-of-life as it is our responsibility as consumers to be more conscious of the products we buy.

Hailing from a country that proudly recycles 100% of all its waste, Hansen saw an opportunity to pioneer positive behavioural change in Namibia and presented a plan “to implement the solutions and learn from the mistakes made in Europe over generations, so that Africa does not end up as a waste dump”.

The company’s official mission “to prevent electronic waste … ending up in landfills and polluting the environment” was rightly taken to heart, and in its first year NamiGreen collected and processed 50 000 kg of electronic scrap. In 2019 the company handled just over a tonne and it expects to double the volume again this year. Keep in mind that these figures represent only the Namibian consumer – as a matter of fact, Namibia is seen as the seventh-highest e-waste generating country in Africa – it comes as no surprise that electronic scraps are the fastest growing refuse stream in the world*.

Hansen believes that the increased public awareness in Namibia for recycling electronics has been a combined effort, noting that “the work of organisations like Recycle Namibia Forum and increased governmental focus allowed us to recycle even more e-waste than before.”

At the company’s recycling facility in Windhoek, electronics are sorted into various categories before they get transferred to designated facilities – all local – which operate in accordance with ISO-certified guidelines. Hansen, the CEO, assures that “everything is recycled in Namibia and nothing goes to landfills – and nothing will pollute the precious Namibian environment.” If a certain part can’t be recycled, it is stored until such time that technology becomes available to take care of its safe disposal.

With the help of management partner Transworld Cargo and Multichoice Zambia, Namigreen moved 15 tonnes of discarded electronics from the Zambian capital Lusaka to its recycling facility in Windhoek in March this year. Following a lengthy process, in which numerous stakeholders across both borders had to be engaged – including the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Namibia and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency – and after finalising paperwork to comply with international regulations, Zambia was able to get rid of some of its consumer waste in a more sustainable matter, in what is sure to be the beginning of a growing partnership.

While NamiGreen is doing an admirable job in keeping our landfills free from electronic waste, it’s not only their responsibility to protect our planet. It is as much the duty of the manufacturers to take responsibility for their products’ end-of-life as it is our responsibility as consumers to be more conscious of the products we buy.

Find your closest e-waste recycling drop-off site at www.namigreen.com/dropoff, or contact NamiGreen to collect your waste (if you’re a company) at info@namigreen. com, and learn more about the enterprise at www.namigreen.com.

*Data obtained from United Nations reports, 2014-2016

E-WASTE THEY RECYCLE:

Computers and tablets

Cellphones. phones, radios

Ink & Printers/Fax

Servers, mainframes

TV/Screens, Radio & Video

Appliances

Cables & PC-accessories

All other electronics & electricals

Marita van Rooyen