E-Waste Management Strategy for Mauritius Prakash Kowlesser Director, Solid waste Division Solid Waste Management Divi

1. E-Waste Management Strategy for Mauritius PrakashKowlesser Director, Solid waste Division Solid Waste Management Division Ministry of Local Government and Outer Islands 23 July 2012 23 July 2012

2. Contents

3. Electronic waste or E-Waste, is a generic term embracing various forms of electric and electronic equipment that have ceased to be of any use to their owners What is E-Waste?

4. EU E-WASTE DIRECTIVE (EU, 2002a) “Electrical or electronic equipment which is waste...including all components, sub-assemblies and consumables, which are part of the product at the time of discarding” DIRECTIVE 75/442/EEC, ARTICLE 1(A) defines “waste” as “any substance or object, which the holder disposes of or is required to dispose of pursuant to the provisions of national law in force” ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT – OECD (2001) “Any appliance using an electric power supply that has reached its end-of-life” E-Waste International Definitions

5. Large Household Appliances: Electric Fans, Air conditioner Appliances • Small Household Appliances: Kettle, Grinder/Coffee Machine, Rice cookers, Clock/Watches, Electric Knives • IT & Telecoms: Computer Parts, Printer Parts, CD, Tapes, Floppy disks, Cellular Phones • Consumer Equipment: Radio sets, Audio Devices, Consumer Appliances, Batteries • Lighting Equipment: Fluorescent Lamps, Bulbs • Electrical & Electronic Tools: Tooling Equipment • Toys, Leisure and Sports Equipment • Medical Devices • Monitoring and Control Instruments Categories of E-Waste covered under WEEE Directive Many everyday commodities that were formerly considered as electrical equipment, such as refrigerators, household appliances and toys, are becoming ‘electronic’ objects through the addition of programmable microprocessors

6. Includes computers, computer games and peripherals; cellular telephones and other telecommunication equipment; portable electronic devices such as portable digital assistants (PDAs), video and audio equipment, including MP3 players and peripherals; and electrical tools Information and Technology (IT) Equipment

7. Made up of a diverse range of materials, making it difficult to give a generalized material composition for the entire waste stream • Five categories of materials: ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, glass, plastics and “other” • Electronic waste can contain more than 1000 different substances, many of which are toxic, such as lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium • Cathode ray tubes (CRT) in older computers contain over 2kg of lead…some of the more hazardous IT equipment include CRT monitors, LCD desktop monitors, laptop computers… E-Waste Composition and Hazards

8. E-Waste Composition & Hazards

9. • • E-Waste is one of the fastest growing areas of the international waste stream and is increasing at a much higher rate than all other waste streams (Herat, 2007) • E-Waste accounts for 8% of all municipal waste (The Economist, 2005) domestically generated . Around 20 to 50 million metric tonnes disposed annually world wide. • E-Waste is already recognised as the fastest growing waste stream in the European Union (EU), with estimates of up to 20 kg per person per annum • The life span of ICT products in industrialized countries dropped from six years in 1997 to 2 years in 2005

10. E-Waste Management -Internationally concerned people

11. Implementation of the WEEE Directive (2003) has proved to be difficult • Countries with no previous experience of E-Waste management have sought extensions to comply with the Directive • A major cause of delay is negotiations with stakeholders regarding responsibilities in the process (in France for example) • Other European nations outside of the EU have also been addressing the handling of E-Waste • Switzerland was the first country to implement an industry-wide organised system for the collection and recycling of E-Waste

12. Managing E-Waste- Nationally concerned people

13. E-wastes classified as hazardous wastes under the Second and Third Schedules of the Environment Protection (Standards for Hazardous Wastes) Regulations 2001 • Enforcing Agency for hazardous wastes in Mauritius: Ministry of Local Government and Outer Islands (MoLG) • Currently, no specific e-waste regulations in Mauritius Our Definition

14. E-Waste Quantities in Mauritius

15. Methodology

16. 1 3 2 E-Waste Characterisation Studies

17. E-Waste Characterisation Studies: Findings

18. E-Waste Characterisation Studies: Findings

19. E-Waste Quantities

20. In 2008, estimated amount of e-waste generated was 6,571 tonnes/year, and it is estimated to reach 7,584 tonnes/year in 2011, amounting to an increase of 15 % over three years. • Only 1,600 tonnes estimated to be disposed in 2008. This can be explained by the fact that most probably there is a lot of refurbishment & storage taking place. Quantities of E-Waste Generated in Mauritius

21. Estimated to be 5.5 kg in 2008 (as compared to 20kg per capita in EU) Expected to increase to around 6 kg per capita in the coming years E-Waste Generation per Capita in Mauritius

22. E-Waste Management Strategies in Mauritius • A two-phase approach is being adopted to tackle the e-waste problem in Mauritius

23. E-Waste Management Strategies in Mauritius

24. E-Waste Management Strategies in Mauritius

25. Private companies involved in collection and dismantling of e-wastes for recycling • Hazardous components like printed circuit boards, CRT exported for recycling E-Waste Recycling in Mauritius

26. Thank you …