With electronic waste, or e-waste, growing five times faster than documented e-waste recycling globally, organisations such as E-Waste Recycling Authority (ERA) in South Africa have made strides to improve the local volume of e-waste recycling.

The company says African countries’ e-waste recycling rate is lower than 1%, while e-waste in South Africa is growing at three times the rate of solid municipal waste.

ERA alone last year met 22% of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s national target of e-waste collection for the country – which stood at 47-million kilograms.

ERA also achieved 91% of its own e-waste collection target last year, with a 1% waste-to-landfill ratio – with 2023 having been its first year of operation.

The organisation plans to keep this momentum going through strategic partnerships, increased public awareness and engaging electrical and electronic equipment producers.

To address the looming landfill crisis in South Africa’s metros, the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Extended Producer Responsibility regulations were promulgated in 2021, with the aim to get more manufacturers involved in the post-consumer stage of their products’ lifecycle.

To implement these regulations, producer responsibility organisations such as ERA serve as intermediaries between industry and government.

ERA works with multiple sectors of corporate South Africa and has grown its membership to more than 45 producers, including Defy, HP, Dell Technologies, Philips, IBM and Smeg.

The organisation has various e-waste drop-off containers across the country, including at Makro store parking lots. ERA is also rolling out e-waste bins at more than 200 Pick n Pay stores.

The organisation says much progress on the collection of e-waste has been made in the information and communication technology and domestic appliances industries.

For example, for the incentivised Takeback Scheme with Makro for International E-waste Day in 2023, ERA collected 164 t of e-waste in just two days.

More industries such as solar, retailers and companies working in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning are coming on board.

ERA is in the process or forming new departments for lighting waste and batteries, which will be governed by unique extended producer responsibility notices.

“We are working to institutionalise our systems and establish operational routines applicable across sectors. We encourage more electronics producers to reach out and work together towards a more sustainable South Africa,” urges ERA CEO Ashley du Plooy.

He adds that this is just the beginning and that more needs to be done to achieve a circular economy, including to address problem fractions such as mixed plastics.

ERA is targeting a waste-to-landfill ratio of 0%, while government has set the national e-waste collection target at 61 000 t for this year. ERA aims to collect 20 000 t of that total.