Dell leaders, last week, joined members of the E-Waste Solutions Alliance for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya to mark the opening of East Africa Compliant Recycling – the region’s first large-scale e-waste recycling facility – and the creation of a new e-waste business to be supported by a regulatory model tailored for developing countries. The new regulatory model was developed by Kenyan officials and representatives from non-governmental organizations and the information technology, and e-recycling industries. The hub was designed by the industry, in collaboration with policymakers
According to Amina Abdalla, member of parliament,MP and Chairperson, Committee of Environment and Natural Resources, Kenyan Parliament, “We’re looking at ensuring that e-waste is recycled in such a manner that ensures our people are not exposed to hazardous materials. And so basically, we’ve invested in getting out a regulation that is more proactive managing e-waste. With the regulation, its enforcement, and partnering with not only recyclers but producers, we’ll go a long way in addressing these challenges.”
Alice Akinyi Kaudia, Environment Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, added that “We are seeing green technology is good business sense, not just because it creates profits, but if the persons working for such a company are of higher health status because of a good environment, then productivity also goes up. We want to create jobs, particularly for our youth. So it’s a triple way: We have a clean environment, we have jobs created, we have industrial growth and economic growth of the country.”
As Jean Cox-Kearns, Director of Compliance, Dell Takeback, explained, “It is so exciting to see this sustainable model be implemented on the ground in Nairobi, creating green jobs and implementing a solution that deals with e-waste being generated both in Kenya and the greater East African Region, and providing environmentally sound management of e-waste collected.”
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