Kenya: Poor E-waste Disposal Linked to Rise in Cancer Cases
By NewsfromAfrica
Nairobi--- The increasing cases of cancer could be linked to improper electronic waste disposal. This is because inappropriate electronic waste disposal generate toxic substances to the environment.
Kenya has begun to generate more and more e-waste, plus it is on the receiving end of Western e-waste. Dumping of this waste in African countries such as Kenya, often in the form of second-hand electronic goods that are no longer reusable, began as a result of an increased volume of e-waste in Western countries where recycling laws are stricter.
The country's informal market manages most of the local and international e-waste, estimated at more than 37 000 tonnes a year. Without registration, authorisation or adequate skills, informal recyclers recover scrap metals and burn or dispose of the remaining parts.
This waste has been, to some extent, responsible for the latest surge in the numerous cancer, respiratory and madness, cases reported in Africa. According to experts, inhalation of smoke from burnt e-waste may cause respiratory problems, cancer and in some instances completely affects brain cells resulting to madness.
The United Nations Environmental Programme research shows that Kenya generates more than 20,000 tonnes of electronic waste annually. In 2010, the country generated 11, 400 tonnes of electronic waste from refrigerators, 2,800 tonnes from TV’s, 2,500 from personal computer and 500 tonnes from printers and additional 150 tonnes from mobile phones.
National Environment Management Authority (Nema) County Director Anthony Saisi said most electronic and electrical devices contain toxic components such as lead, mercury and other hazardous chemical linked to terminal ailments such as cancer.
He was speaking in Kisumu during the official launch of the e-wastecollection campaign. He observed that Kenya lacks capacity to recycle and manage close to 20,000 tonnes of electronic waste generated annually therefore forcing the country to ship the waste to other destination for proper disposal.
The hazardous materials in electronic goods include lethal toxins such as lead, cadmium, beryllium and brominate flame retardants. Although few directed studies have been undertaken, chemical exposure to e-waste is associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease, fetal loss, neurobehavioural disturbances and genotoxicity.
Historically, Kenya's e-waste industry has been largely uncontrolled and even the government's recent regulatory efforts are fragmented. They range from a clause in the 2006 Kenyan ICT policy and the Communications Commission of Kenya to a tentative verification programme at the Kenya Bureau of Standards and recommendation-based e-waste guidelines, published by Nema in 2011. But a law that actively regulates and enforces e-waste industry standards did not exist – until now.
Because of the near ubiquity of everyday technology – from the increasing cellphone penetration rate to the national shift from analogue to digital TV – the Kenyan government decided to get the ball rolling.
"People keep on asking us about what to do with e-waste and, as an authority, we think it is time for such a regulation," says Immaculate Simiyu, senior compliance and enforcement officer at Nema.
The regulation could indeed be a reaction to rising demand, but it could also be a necessity. As a signatory of two international agreements to control and ban hazardous wastes – the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa – the Kenyan government might no longer have a choice but to articulate one coherent national policy.
The newly proposed legislation, the Environmental Management and Co-ordination of E-Waste Regulation, will focus heavily on how e-waste is reused, recycled and recovered – in that order.
"Before even breaking it, they must try as much as possible to refurbish," says Immaculate Simiyu, senior compliance and enforcement officer at Nema. Only once every other option is explored can the equipment be broken down.
According to Simiyu's colleague, Samuel Munene, who acts as Nema's principle compliance and enforcement officer, components that can be recycled inland – mostly plastic and metals – go through local recyclers. Those that cannot – circuit boards, cathode ray tubes from television sets and computer monitors – are exported to the United Kingdom and Germany, to be reused.
Another main component of the legislation is the import process. Any interested party introducing electronic equipment into the Kenyan market will have to register with the authority and prove that they have found a recycler for the eventual disposal of their products.
As of August last year, Nema had licensed three recyclers, but Simiyu and Munene are optimistic that the number will increase once everyone knows "what the regulation is all about".
But so far the regulation does not include information on the actual technical recycling process itself. Nor does it outline a strategy to involve the expansive informal sector. Munene acknowledges that many Kenyans' livelihoods depend on the informal e-waste recycling business. "We don't want to disrupt that; we want them to be formal," he insists. But how exactly this formalisation will occur remains unclear.
Possibly the biggest challenge the Kenyan government faces in regulating e-waste is ambiguity. Similar to other mostly informal industries, nobody knows just how large the benefits or costs really are or could be. Reliable data simply does not exist. The United Nations Environment Programme published the only, and most recent, e-waste estimates in 2009, the same data that is now used by the Kenyan government.
Nema and UN officials agree that the solution lies in the power of incentives. Incentives for informal collectors to bring their goods to registered recycling services and incentives for consumers to part with the electronic goods they no longer want – and that are often hoarded at home – in exchange for something.