NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 28 – The government, through the ICT authority of Kenya, is betting on an e-waste cleanup framework that will see destroyed electronic equipment disposed of correctly.
The exercise seeks to remove the above gadgets from the environment without harming the ecosystem.
“We are moving into digital transformation and as we move through the implementation of the digital infrastructure, the technologies we are deploying must conform with not having adverse effects on the environment,” ICT authority CEO Stanley Kamanguya said.
“Our main objective is to understand the emerging issues and the disposal process,” he added.
The process, which started nine months ago, has seen the collection of 11,000 faced-out gadgets, primarily from organizations.
According to statistics released by the Authority, Kenya in 2020 registered a total of 127,000 tons of e-waste, a figure it says is steadily increasing.
Last year alone, the country registered 63 million active mobile devices against a population of 53.01 million, excluding the ones that are not in use currently.
The authority says it is in the process of designating vehicles to collect e-waste from homes and organizations to run side by side with the voluntary submissions that are currently underway.
