E-waste recycling in Egypt ♻️
The increasing demand for technology and electronic devices has caused an increase in and accumulation of electronic waste, which contains a large percentage of metals and harmful substances that therefore affect human health and the environment in general. The amount of electronic waste is estimated at about 88,000 tons annually, according to statistics issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Egypt.
What is electronic waste?
The United Nations Environment Program defines e-waste as what remains of mobile phones, computers, personal stereos, fluorescent and incandescent lamps, as well as large household appliances such as televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and more.
There are a lot of ways to dispose of them safely without causing any harm to the environment, like using specific dumpsters.
The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it." Robert Swan, after growing awareness among citizens, more people tend to fix their mobiles, give them to charities,or even throw them in dumpsters.
The current status of the planet makes it necessary to get rid of E-waste in a safe and rational way to save the Earth for future generations. As Annie Leonard, a proponent of sustainability, said, There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere.
The most prominent initiatives targeting E-waste are:
The Ministry of Environment, in cooperation with Vodafone Egypt, launched a national campaign for the safe disposal of electronic waste through the electronic application (E-Tadweer), where the application manages the e-waste collection system by providing incentives (discount vouchers) by collecting points in exchange for the disposal of electrical and electronic waste by individuals.
The youth initiative “Phones for Good” to collect electronic waste from individuals and its safe disposal and allocate part of the profits to support the education of individuals who are unable, in addition to cooperation with civil society organizations and NGOs and in cooperation with the Small Grants Program funded by the Global Environment Facility to build the capacities of these associations Participate in the preparation of projects to support the sound management of e-waste.
The Ministry of Communications has prepared a project for sustainable recycling industries, SRI, in cooperation with the Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe “Cedari”, funded by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of the Swiss government, which aims to protect the environment from harmful outputs of technology through the use of correct scientific methods to manage the e-waste cycle, starting from assembly and then disassembling and manufacturing or exporting until safe disposal.
The most prominent companies operating in the field of e-waste recycling are:
E-Collect: The company works to collect any type of electronic waste and dispose of it in a healthy and sound manner so that it becomes less harmful to the environment.
Bikea: The company has been working since 2018 in the field of collecting electronic solid waste as an intermediary between the customer and the recycling plants and aims to raise the environmental awareness of the community.
Go green: The company was founded in Cairo, with the aim of converting waste into recyclable materials to sustain an eco-friendly life in Egypt.
Recyclobekia: is the first Egyptian company to collect electronic waste and recycle it in environmentally friendly ways, with safe destruction of all data.
