WEEE Centre, empowerment and sustainability in electronic waste management in Kenya

WEEE Centre is an electronic waste disposal and recycling company based in Nairobi, Kenya.  WEEE  Centre also has various collection centres in regional cities in Kenya. Electronic waste is collected from communities, taken to collection centres, and later taken to the main processing facility in Nairobi.  Here, waste is taken apart, recycled, repurposed or dismantled and separated into various material types like plastics, copper, rubber and many others. These are sold to manufacturers who reuse them. 

WEEE Centre trains and employs women and youth from disadvantaged communities. The training imparts skills in handling waste and electronics repairs and maintenance. The trainees then have a choice to become suppliers of electronic waste to WEEE and earn a living or open up micro-enterprises and find alternative employment using the skills acquired. To date, WEEE has trained 2,200 women and youth. Out of these, 600 are actively earning a living as suppliers of electronic waste for the WEEE Centre. In 2024, the WEEE Centre is embarking on another initiative to train 3,000 people in the next three years. 

WEEE Centre also tackles the challenge of waste disposal faced by most Kenyans. Only about 40% of the 45 million Kenyans receive waste management services, and less than 10% of the waste is recycled. The uncollected waste is illegally dumped on roadsides and in waterways. This has adverse effects on the environment and livelihoods. The problem is even worse with electronic waste as the awareness about how to dispose of electronics is extremely low in Kenya. WEEE Centre’s work in collecting and disposing of electronic waste, coupled with the sensitization of women and youth in disadvantaged communities goes a long way in addressing these challenges.  To date, WEEE Centre has processed over 10,000 tonnes of e-waste.

WEEE Centre collects e-waste from clients’ premises and at its collection centers in 8 counties of Kenya. The waste is then transported to the processing center in Nairobi. Here, the waste is sorted into various categories and processed into plastic and metal that can be recycled. Components of the waste that are found to be functional and fit for reuse are sold. The e-waste that contains precious metals that cannot be extracted locally is exported to Europe. Below is a breakdown of the services offered:

• E-waste disposal services: Corporates pay disposal fees to dispose of their e-waste responsibly and safely.
• Re-manufacturing: Electronic components from e-waste are recovered, rebuilt and sold for reuse.
• Commodity fractions: Materials recovered from e-waste and sold to other recyclers for extraction.  These include zinc, palladium and gold.
• Training Projects: WEEE Centre conducts outreach trainings on e-waste management to local communities. These are geared at improving awareness on waste management and enabling small entrepreneurs to start businesses in the sector. These are mainly paid for by corporate entities in their corporate social responsibility strategies.
• Repairs and maintenance: This is a service offered to the public for a fee as the WEEE Centre team has, over the years, built capacity in handling electronics.

WEEE Center’s primary impact focus is women and youth. Women and youth receive training on safe e-waste management practices and have the opportunities to supply WEEE Center with e-waste post-training. Training takes place at mobile classrooms that are taken to low-income neighborhoods, including refugee camps like Kakuma in northwestern Kenya. To date, over 2,600 women and youth from low-income backgrounds have received training in the management of e-waste. Currently, 600 of these are actively earning an income as suppliers of e-waste. Others opt to start small businesses in related services such as repairing and maintaining electronic equipment. Gainful employment due to training and partnership with WEEE Center goes a long way in improving livelihoods in communities with high unemployment rates.  

WEEE Center’s work also results in a positive impact on the planet. Recycling e-waste that would have ended up in landfills reduces methane emissions into the environment. Recycling also extends the useful lives of electronics and reduces energy consumption in manufacturing which is the most significant contributor to carbon emissions worldwide (about 25%). Since its inception, the WEEE Center has safely processed more than 10,000 tonnes of e-waste and depolluted over 800,000 units of electrical equipment. This translates to over 14,400 tonnes in reduction of carbon emissions.