Egypt is moving forward with the safe disposal of e-waste

A sharply rising amount of e-waste is generated around the world and the environment risks from it thanks to constant innovation which pushes people to repeatedly invest in new electronics while their used ones rarely end up at recycling centers.

Fast mobile development, as an example, has led to a market dependency on rapid replacement of old cell phones which make it the fastest growing form of electronic trash. With over than 100 million inhabitants, Egypt as the most populous country in the Arab world has a huge amount of e-waste due to the increasing demand of its overpopulation for electronic equipment in parallel with the rapid advances in technology so Egypt decided to take positive steps to overcome this e-waste problem.

What challenges does Egypt face to manage e-waste?

Egypt faces a big challenge to make the practice of domestic e-waste disposal properly as a social habit, its challenge increases day by day because many people in Egypt ignore how to reach e-waste recycling points so they throw out randomly their unused electronic equipment in the trash bins which causes harmful co2 emissions or they shove it into junk drawers or closets.

Furthermore, many electronics whether manufactured in Egypt or imported from outside, have short life span and limited repair options which result in the increase of e-waste as well as the misuse of electronic device accelerates its fail, for example leaving the battery uncharged for prolonged time or constantly charging it even if it is between 90% to 100%, this misuse is enough to damage electronics while storing the electronics long time in bad conditions such as in extreme heat, cold and dampness without connection to power source accelerates their fail too. Corrosion is a major factor in electronics’ failure.

How does Egypt step up its efforts to dispose e-waste safely?

Egypt’s environment ministry recently took part in the launch of online recycling applications that are one of innovative technologies revolutionizing waste management around the world. Egypt's environment ministry has released a national digital platform to facilitate to anyone in Egypt finding his nearest e-waste recycling points. This service-oriented platform is allowing everyone to contribute on 24 hours basis in sharing, from the comfort of his home, pictures of his unused electronic items then he would receive discounts and vouchers to exchange for products he needs at certain outlets. This national digital platform focuses on the daily used electronics which create the most e-waste in Egypt such as computer, phones, video games, screens, routers and receivers, printers and scanners.

Egypt’s environment ministry offers collecting points in different cities in Egypt to collect e-waste then transfer it to factories which separate it into raw material. E-waste is a rich source of metals such as gold, silver, copper and other useful elements which can be recovered and brought back into production cycle.

These factories are approved by Egypt’s ministry of environment, they perform friendly recycling of electronics without producing toxic gases or pollution as well as they chop the hard drives of recycled cell phones or computers to dispose the data left in those hard drives in a safe way.

Many people in Egypt usually prefer hoarding their unused gadgets. They have reasons in common, their children enjoy playing with unused gadgets instead of their toys, other people hoard old electronics just in case they need them in an emergency in the future instead of their new ones which are broken or failed, while the majority are concerned that their confidential information connected to their online banking which is still hidden in their old laptops or smart phones and they don’t know how to remove it, might recovered by identity thieves.

This reluctance to let go the old, damaged and outdated electronics clutter up homes and harm the environment. That’s why Egypt’s environment ministry took steps to eliminate any worry about the personal data left in recycled cell phones and computers trash by inserting their hard drives into chopping process.

The bottom line is that the collection and recycling of e-waste is getting today international attention and Egypt is moving forward with the safe disposal of e-waste.

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