By Faridat Salifu
Discarded batteries, damaged electronics and other forms of electronic waste are becoming more than an environmental concern in Sierra Leone, as young innovators look for ways to turn the growing problem into useful products and livelihoods.
For Peter George, the problem became personal while growing up in Bo District. He watched electronic waste being dumped close to farmland where his grandmother cultivated crops.
Chemicals from discarded batteries and other electronic components affected the surrounding farmland and reduced crop yields. But rather than simply seeing the waste as a threat, George became interested in understanding how the discarded devices worked.
That interest eventually led him to experiment with electronic waste to produce solar lamps for schoolchildren.
“We started using some of the electronic waste to develop solar lamps,” George said. The lamps allowed students to study after dark, while some were donated to children in communities with limited access to electricity.
George later expanded his work through Ideal Technologies, a youth-led enterprise he founded in Bo District in 2018. The initiative now combines electronic waste and recycled plastics to produce solar-powered backpacks and lighting systems for schoolchildren.
The backpacks are designed to address two problems at once: waste pollution and limited access to electricity. Children can use them as normal school bags during the day, while the solar-powered lighting provides illumination for studying at night.
For George, the approach represents a different way of thinking about electronic waste.
“Things that people saw as waste, I saw as solutions,” he said.
A growing waste challenge
Sierra Leone is facing a wider waste-management challenge as discarded electronics and plastics accumulate in communities.
Electronic waste can contain materials and chemicals that pose environmental risks when equipment is dumped or handled improperly. For communities close to farmland, waterways and residential areas, uncontrolled disposal can create additional risks.
Globally, the scale of the problem is expanding rapidly. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 reported that the world generated 62 million tonnes of electronic waste in 2022, while less than 22.3% was formally collected and recycled.
In Sierra Leone, the challenge is compounded by limited infrastructure and resources for managing waste.
George believes greater investment in recycling equipment could allow young people to move beyond small-scale projects and create businesses capable of processing larger quantities of discarded electronics.
“One of our greatest challenges is having the right tools and equipment,” he said, adding that investment could also create income opportunities for waste collectors and recyclers.
Turning discarded electronics into opportunities
George’s work has already reached underserved communities.
In 2024, Ideal Technologies won the Youth-Led Innovation Challenge organised by the United Nations Development Programme and Sierra Leone’s Environment Protection Agency. The recognition provided financial support that helped the initiative expand.
George said grants from the challenge and other programmes have enabled the organisation to support more than 400 schoolchildren in rural communities.
His experience illustrates how electronic waste can become a source of innovation when young people have access to the skills, funding and equipment needed to process it.
But the challenge remains much larger than the work of individual innovators.
As the volume of discarded electronics grows, Sierra Leone faces the need for stronger collection systems, recycling infrastructure and investment in enterprises capable of safely recovering valuable materials.
For young innovators such as George, however, the message is straightforward: electronic waste does not necessarily have to end up in a landfill or beside a farm.
With the right support, some of it can be turned into technology that addresses other problems facing communities.
