Gauteng citizens could soon earn themselves extra cash by recycling old electronic devices and electrical appliances. The Gauteng government wants to turn the province’s electronic waste also known as e-Waste into an economic opportunity while at the same time protecting the environment. As part of this initiative, young people will also be trained to recycle, refurbish, and create meaningful items from e-waste.
This in turn could provide skills and job opportunities.
Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko the Gauteng MEC for Finance and e-Government says they have observed the challenge of mounting e-Waste in the province.
“If you can go to a government department, just go at the basement you will find a lot of laptops in each and every department. There is so much that is there dumped there, even when you go to schools, all the schools in Gauteng especially government schools. You will remember we had Gauteng on-line and those gadgets are not working that we are going to focus and target and get them,” says Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko.
E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams globally with an estimated 53-million tons of e-waste generated globally each year. Nickey Janse Van Rensburg from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) says there’s a lot of e-Waste that unfortunately ends up on landfill sites and is hazardous to the environment.
“The key thing is to direct the electrical appliances away from landfill sites, batteries and all those things away from the landfills and get it into formal recycling programmes and we work with all the actors in the recycling sector. We have the informal sector playing such a big role and we need to figure out how we incorporate them. And the key thing is to stop thinking of it as waste but really as a valuable resource that can be mined and that can be brought back into the economy and that’s an opportunity to create jobs,” says Nickey Janse Van Rensburg.
Training young people
The Gauteng government has partnered with UJ which will be providing training to young people. Youngsters will be trained to refurbish these items which could be re-used or re-sold. Janse Van Rensburg says the university is already running programmes for the youth.
“We have started with programmes, small appliance refurbishments, teaching young kids from TVET colleges those basic skills so that they have a sellable skill, in terms of being able to fix toasters and kettles and those kinds of smaller appliances and as they develop their skills, they graduate through programmes that they can deal with larger appliances and other opportunities,” Van Rensburg adds.
Nkomo-Ralehoko says those youngsters with a creative streak will also be assisted to create meaningful items from e-Waste.
“There is a young man called Jeremiah in Katlehong who has done a robot by cardboard and some of the electric gadgets that comes from an old computer and the robot can work. Now we are in a process of assisting him so that he can get proper equipment for that robot,” says Nkomo-Ralehoko.
Drop-off sites
She says they are going to set up areas in all five regions of Gauteng which will be drop-off sites for e-Waste. Nkomo-Ralehoko says people will be able to earn extra income through recycling.
“We will definitely pay you because that is yours remember. So, there is a certain amount that we must give you because this thing that you bring to us it is your gadget that you loved by the way. But how do we encourage you now to go out and look for other gadgets,” Nkomo-Ralehoko adds.
The initiative will be officially launched in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
