Strategies for e-waste management in fragile countries

E-waste, or electronic waste, is one of the fastest-growing waste streams globally. In 2022 alone, 62 million tons of e-waste were generated, and is projected to grow further. E-waste includes any discarded electronic products or their components that have reached the end of their useful life. Key materials found in e-waste include gold, copper, lead, and cadmium. Due to their hazardous nature, these materials need to be treated separately from other household waste.  

Fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS) represent an insignificant share of e-waste. Many still lack access to electricity, which would make electrical products useful in the first place. Talking about e-waste in these contexts can, therefore, seem beside the point. However, the best way to manage e-waste is to anticipate it, minimise its growth, and contain its impact. 

As international organisations and private developers start to target hard-to-reach populations, they have an opportunity to deploy solar mini grids in a way that minimises e-waste at each step. Given the environmental, health, and financial costs of e-waste, prevention will go a long way in ensuring that the welcomed benefits of electrification do not end up creating new problems in the years that follow.  

This blog focuses on e-waste generated from solar mini grids only, although the lessons can be applied to other types of e-waste. Fragile countries face constraints in managing e-waste and here, private developers have as opportunity to design and maintain solar mini grids in a way that minimises waste production. There is also scope for these governments to collaborate with international organisations and donors to improve their e-waste management capacity. 

Our recent policy toolkit, E-waste management: Strategies and policies in fragile contexts explores these dynamics, and more, as a part of the State Fragility initiative’s set of publications investigating key aspects of scaling up solar mini grids in fragile settings.

Fragile countries do not have the capacity to process this e-waste. 

No fragile country currently possesses the infrastructure, financing, and government capacity required to handle e-waste. As a result, in most low-income countries, e-waste ends up being dumped, burnt, or buried. In this process, components break and release toxic contents into the air, water, and soil. A particular concern is lead-acid batteries, still commonly used in solar mini grids. Lead especially can cause severe damage to the health of exposed communities if released into the environment. 

While materials recovered are valuable, the high collection and processing costs of e-waste recycling mean that it is often done at a loss. Given the low income of populations in FCAS, it is up to either private developers or governments to finance the collection, processing, and disposal of e-waste. However, neither have a financial incentive to do so. 

Governments are already stretched thin, with many fragile countries without any household waste management infrastructure, let alone the capacity to manage more complex waste. Likewise, private developers already struggle to remain profitable without having to contend with the cost of processing e-waste. 

Finally, the absence of regulations clearly assigning the financial and operational responsibility between consumers, producers, and different government entities all but guarantees that e-waste will not be managed properly. 

Private developers need to minimise e-waste through better design and maintenance.

The best way to handle e-waste is to ensure that as little of it is produced. Private developers have a pivotal role to play in this regard by embracing better design principles that prioritise longevity and repairability.

Design for longevity

The solar mini grids rolled out need to be designed with longevity in mind, composing it with the components best suited to the local environment. Quality must be prioritised to avoid any premature malfunctions.

A realistic maintenance plan

Many places in FCAS are difficult to reach due to security concerns or poor road infrastructure. Travel must be minimised as much as possible. Developers must ensure that local technicians are available to service the mini grid, from routine inspections to first response in case of failures. Solar mini grids need to be equipped with remote sensors that allow remote monitoring, which can prevent larger failures and reduce travelling costs. 

Emphasise repairability

Manufacturers need to ensure that solar mini grids are easily repairable, using components that can be separated and standardised pieces that are conveniently available in the area. Technicians and repair shops must be provided with resources to report and repair common issues. 

Governments can collaborate with international organisations to train the informal recycling sector and start designing legislation.

Components found in e-waste are valuable. This means that in most settings, an informal recycling sector will emerge as soon as there is enough e-waste to pick up. This sector provides a highly valuable service, recycling precious materials and components that can be used again in new electronic equipment. However, they often do so with crude processes and little protective equipment, putting themselves and their communities in harm’s way. Governments need to work with private developers, international organisations, and NGOs to provide training and equipment to informal workers. This can include setting up buy-back programmes, using informal recyclers to bring back discarded e-waste for recycling. 

Finally, e-waste will not be fully dealt with until regulations clearly assign financial and operational responsibility for its disposal. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation is currently the most widespread approach. It places the financial and sometimes operational responsibility of e-waste disposal on the producers. While this is currently outside the scope of many fragile countries, governments may consider working with international organisations as electrification spreads and e-waste accumulates to start preparing the ground for regulations. A starting point is collecting data on e-waste to capture the scale of the issue.   

However, none of the above solutions are possible without significant investment from international organisations and donors. This will compete with other priorities that the development sector faces. The inevitable trade-off will be between spending additional resources on e-waste management or investing in cheaper mini grids that can reach more people. Whatever decision the sector makes, it needs to keep track of the electric products it deploys and ensure it has a plan to safeguard communities from the most toxic elements of e-waste. 

To learn more, read our policy toolkit E-waste management: Strategies and policies in fragile contexts and other related publications on energy access in fragile settings.