By Bisola Adeyemo
Nigeria has inaugurated an e-waste compensation policy scheme in assisting an environmentally friendly collection and treatment of Li-ion batteries and flat panel.
The initiative was kicked off by a team of environmental organisations at a virtual session on Tuesday.
Tagged “E-waste compensation as an international financing mechanism in Nigeria” or ECoN, the scheme is an 18-month pilot project funded by the German PREVENT Waste Alliance and is being jointly implemented by Oeko-Institut e.V. (Germany), Closing the Loop (Netherlands), SRADev (Nigeria), Hinckley Group (Nigeria), and Verde Impacto (Nigeria), Environews reports.
The ECoN project aims to expand a business model known as “waste compensation”, a financing mechanism that funds sustainable collection and treatment of e-waste from countries where such type of waste is often mismanaged.
Based on the notion of “buy one new device, fund the collection of one scrap device”, waste compensation has been widely adopted and, in early 2020, recognised as a green (or “waste-free”) procurement solution for phones, laptops and tablets.
The pilot aims to expand that product range to include batteries and monitors.
An opportunity is created for the electronics industry and its customers to participate in the project.
The project aims to collect and soundly recycle 20 tonnes of batteries and monitors, while strengthening the local recycling sector in Nigeria. It also aims to attract launching customers for waste compensation of monitors or batteries, and to have the compensation of monitors or batteries certified by an independent eco-label.
“If effective mechanisms for batteries and monitors can be piloted and demonstrated through the project, this could be scaled as a funding mechanism in many other countries and can also be used as a blueprint for developing local policies and financing instruments in countries like Nigeria.
“This is a necessary, innovative first step towards establishing a long-term sustainable, inclusive e-waste recycling in partner countries. Finally, for the effective application of e-waste comparison criteria, a broad acceptance by national and international civil society is key,” the promoters said.
Part of the goal of the project is to deliver on the growing global demand for more sustainable consumption of electronics, while strengthening the e-waste recycling sector in Nigeria.
“The project target groups include electronics industry and users of electronics, e-waste recycling companies and service providers, national and international decision-makers.
On why the pilot project is coming to Nigeria, the promoters stated that e-waste management in the country is infamous for heavy pollution and human health risks. It is generally accepted that sustainable recycling is not profitable in the given context.
Expected solution, according to them, is to create an additional source of income that can be used to finance sustainable recycling practices.