The Electronic-Waste Management Policy for Uganda is unambiguous about the threat of e-waste. PHOTO/FILE
Susan Mugide relies heavily on portable solar panels to charge her phone and provide lighting in her house with her three children in Amudat District. The off-grid solar system offers a lifeline to her mobile money business and light that enables her primary school-going children to revise their notes at night.
Mugide is not an exception as the vast majority of people in Karamoja Sub-region bank on solar to power their homes, light up schools, and recharge their phones. The popular uptake of solar energy in the sub-region owes to the government's move to popularize renewable energy.
Whereas there has been strong uptake and promotion, little has been done to sensitize users about how to dispose of dilapidated, defunct, or dysfunctional equipment as Ms. Mugide confesses.
"I was taught how to use [the off-grid solar panel] and it has been very helpful... but no one told me where to take the spoilt [panels]. For all the three panels that I have had, I only sold them to scrap dealers," she says.
Defunct solar equipment forms a huge part of the 40,000 tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) generated in Uganda annually, according to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and National Guidance ministry.
Glaring deficits
The Electronic-Waste Management Policy for Uganda is unambiguous about the threat. It warns that “workers in e-waste scrap yards are constantly exposed to toxic chemicals that are by-products of deconstructing components. These chemicals also pollute water, soil, and air.”
E-waste, the policy clarifies, “includes a broad range and growing number of electronic devices—from large household appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners to personal products such as handheld cellular phones, personal stereos, consumer electronics, and computers.”
It proceeds to note that “the e-waste problem has turned into a crisis because it is hazardous” since “it contains numerous substances, many of which are toxic, and hence, pollution is created upon its disposal.”
E-waste is generated at an alarming rate due to, the policy offers, “the constant evolution of technology, which in turn has driven the sale of new products, as well as the frequent obsolescence of electronics.”
Uganda’s e-waste hubs are domiciled in Kampala and Nakasongola. Both facilities are located in industrial areas, with Nakasongola’s overseen by the army's National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) in tandem with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
“The generated e-waste in Uganda was estimated at 17,000 tonnes/year in 2018 and is projected to rise to 45,000 tonnes per annum,” a report by the GIZ, Germany's leading provider of international cooperation services, reads.
The burden of managing the generated e-waste collected through privately owned garbage collection channels becomes more apparent with each passing day.
It has not helped matters that the ICT ministry, which is tasked to ensure the collection and disposal of e-waste in Uganda, is financially constrained. Officials at the ministry are unable to fully deliver because of insufficient infrastructural institutions as well as low public awareness among citizens who chiefly generate the said waste.
Additionally, there are no clearly defined e-waste collection routes across the country, thereby exposing Ugandans and the environment to the threats occasioned by such waste.
Can’t go it alone
The government currently uses four pieces of legislation to manage e-waste. These include E-Waste Management Policy (2012); E-Waste Management Guidelines (2016); National Environment Act (2019); and Waste Management Regulations (2020). These are chiefly implemented by Nema that directly works with the ICT ministry.
Despite these guidelines and policies, many people in Uganda remain uninformed about e-waste control measures and the dangers.
At the energy transition workshop held on September 26, Ms. Justine Akumu, the senior energy officer at the Energy ministry, pushed for “a harmonious element of collaboration” between the government and other duty bearers.
The private sector, she noted, can support processes of polishing the available forms of legislation and also persuade donors to invest in e-waste management channels, considering the said sector is less lucrative.
Energy transition
It is for this reason that ECOCA East Africa, makers of an off-grid e-clean cooking stove, have invested in the management and disposal of e-waste substances.
Ruth Kamuntale, the ECOCA managing director, says her outlet developed a comprehensive system that avails a solar-powered cooking system and also ably collects all defunct equipment occasioned by their equipment.
“The burden is not coming from the Ugandan to say, ‘help me, I need a solution.’ It is instead coming from the international community which says, ‘why do we have such a high indoor air pollution death rate in Africa,’” Ms Kamuntale said of her cooking stove’s role in the energy transition, adding, “It was built to help the Bidi Bidi refugee woman. We had visited the Bidi Bidi refugee and learnt women were working eight kilometres on average a day, losing eight hours in the kitchen a day between firewood collection, firewood preparation, cooking, and presentation of food.”
Currently, ECOCA works with Catholic-based organisation Caritas as channels of distribution and re-collection of obsolete equipment so that they are re-purposed for reuse.
Way forward
GIZ’s report makes clear that “investors need to get involved in sourcing and collection of e-waste, creating a supply chain for off-takers.”
It also notes that the current situation in the sector does not make it attractive for local and foreign investors and that “efficiencies are needed in collection and conveyance of e-waste nationally.”
To this end, Mr Oguzu Lee recommends that “government should in addition to the available policies, facilitate investment in such areas and also come up with ways of attracting investors.”
Mr Julius Mukunda, the executive director of Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), reckons academic institutions have a telling role to play.
“Academic institutions [are] where knowledge is generated and we need to support systems of energy transition,” Mr Mukunda says, adding, “So it is really important that we are partnering for purposes of generating ideas and we support policy making. It is important that we do that.”
He reasons that remedies not only require urgent attention but also have to be engineered to address the energy crisis that may be occasioned by excessive reliance on charcoal.
“I think as a country we are in an energy crisis because of the environmental consequences that are already biting. And if we can’t do something today, then we are failing our next generations,” Mr Mukunda says, concluding, “As a country, energy transition is something that we need to clearly think about and how we are moving.”
Four unique things
The government currently uses four pieces of legislation to manage e-waste. These include:
E-Waste Management Policy (2012)
E-Waste Management Guidelines (2016)
National Environment Act (2019)
Waste Management Regulations (2020)
These are chiefly implemented by NEMA that directly works with the ICT ministry. Despite these guidelines and policies, many people in Uganda remain uninformed about e-waste control measures and the dangers.
