e-Waste Management in Western Africa Mathias Schluep, David Rochat EMPA – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology www.empa.ch St-Gallen / Switzerland SBC – Geneva, 16-17 May 2009

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

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-90’s! Managing the Swiss global e-waste programme “knowledge partnerships in e-waste management”. Projects in India, China, South Africa, Colombia, Peru

Several initiatives are looking for solutions to prevent the problem: 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….

II. The problem (1)

II. The problem (2)

II. The problem (3)

II. The problem (4)

Questions: what to assess? 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)

III. The assessment process (1) defining the organizational setup of the assessment study Steering committee - funding agency - programme management Assessment team - international expert - local expert National e-waste strategy group - government - industry - academia - civil society - other interest groups

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

IV. Assessment methodology (1) - Project scope and objectives Explicit definition of the project’s 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…)

IV. Assessment methodology (2) – country background Understanding of the country’s characteristics (WDI) Allows better interpretation of the assessment’s results Shows which alternatives are possible for the country’s e-waste problem Allows comparisons with other countries

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.)

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? What’s 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

IV. Assessment methodology (5) – Stakeholder analysis Component 1 Component 2 v v

List of stakeholders involved in e-waste management (1) IV. Assessment methodology (6) – Stakeholder analysis List of stakeholders involved in e-waste management (1)

List of stakeholders involved in e-waste management (2) IV. Assessment methodology (7) – Stakeholder analysis List of stakeholders involved in e-waste management (2)

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: ΔS = ΣFin – ΣFout Parametric equations: Fi+1 = f (ki+1, Fi, S) F = flow S = Stock K is the transfer coefficient

IV. Assessment methodology (9) – impact overview The objective is to highlight in a qualitative way where the priorities are (environmental, social and economic)

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. Component 1 & 2

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

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

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

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.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! http://ewasteguide.info mathias.schluep@empa.ch david.rochat@empa.ch

Tentative Timeplan 2009 2010 2011 Comp 1 EU Nigeria Benin Ghana Côte d’Yvoire Liberia Comp 2 (Ghana) Comp 3