AS far as electronic waste in South Africa goes, the work has only just begun.
Fortunately, key players like E-Waste Recycling Authority (ERA) are making strides in this area, as shown by their recently released 2023 Annual Report. Responsible for processing 22% of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) national target of e-waste collection for the country – achieved 91% of their waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection target last year, with a one percent waste-to-landfill ratio.
The latest report from the UN warns that e-waste growth is rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling globally, with African countries recycling rates at below 1%.
“We’re happy with the results from our first year of operations for ERA and are committed to keeping momentum through our strategic partnerships, driving public awareness, engaging WEEE producers, and working closely with DFFE,” says Ashley du Plooy, ERA CEO.
In South Africa e-waste is growing at three times the rate of solid municipal waste, with the country’s largest metros facing a looming landfill crisis. To address this, the WEEE Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations were brought into law in SA in 2021; an environmental policy aimed at producers’ responsibility for the post-consumer stage of their products life cycle. To implement these regulations, Producer Responsibility Organisations (PRO) like ERA serve as intermediaries between industry and the government.
ERA works closely with multiple sectors of corporate South Africa and has grown their membership to over 45 producers – including household names like Defy, HP, Dell Technologies, Philips, IBM, and Smeg. Sectors that have been successfully engaged in tackling e-waste with ERA since day one are ICT and Domestic Appliances..
“We’re working to institutionalise our systems and establish operational routines applicable across sectors. We encourage more WEEE producers to reach out to see how we can work together towards a more sustainable South Africa,” says du Plooy.
What will it take to turn the tide on E-waste in SA?
In addition to collaborating with various industries and the DFFE to ensure the uptake of such policies, ERA works closely with service providers like recycling companies, who manage the collection and recycling of e-waste across the country. Through these efforts, the footprint of ERA’s e-waste drop-off points has grown to over 100 across the country from e-waste bins at Makro store parking lots, GeT Metal buy-back centres, to recycling service providers EWaste Africa, Desco and Recyclex, and soon at over 200 Pick n Pay stores.
These efforts are funded by the fees and levies paid by producer members, as are their ongoing campaigns to educate the public and drive awareness for increased uptake of recycling. For their incentivised Takeback Scheme with Makro for International E-waste Day in 2023 ERA collected 164 tons of e-waste over just two days.
Economic Potential for the Country
Densifying infrastructure and driving public awareness are but a few of the mandates ERA exhausted their budgets on in 2023, as stipulated by the EPR regulations.
“This is just the beginning – we’ve barely scratched the surface of what needs to be done,” says du Plooy. “To achieve a Circular Economy we need to address Problem Fractions such as mixed plastics, and we’d like to reduce our Waste-to-Landfill ratio to 0%. For 2024 the DFFE has a national e-waste target of 61 000 tons , and we at ERA have endeavoured to facilitate the collection of a third of this, at 20 000 tons. Watch this space.”
