Waste electrical and electronic equipment management in Botswana: Prospects and challenges

The management of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) is a major challenge in developing and transition countries. The paper investigates recent strategies to manage this waste stream in an environmentally sound way. Obsolete electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) are a complex waste category containing both hazardous and valuable substances. Many countries and regions in the world are undertaking extensive scientific research to plan and develop effective collection and treatment systems for end-of-life EEE. In developing countries such as Botswana, effective strategies that cover all stages throughout the lifecycle of products, particularly at the end-of-life, still lag behind. Infrastructure, pre-processing, and end-processing facilities and innovative technologies for end-of-life management of e-waste are noticeably absent due to lack of investment and high costs of its management. The objective of the paper is to present the e-waste situation in Botswana, highlighting (a) measures taken in the form of legislative and policy regulations; (b) existing practices to manage e-waste; and (c) effective solutions for e-waste management in emerging economies. Studies from other countries on e-waste management issues provided insights on the "best" technical and logistical pre-processing and end-processing strategies to treat hazardous waste. The paper also highlights key societal factors that affect successful implementation of cost-effective collection and value recovery of end-of-life EEE. These include unavailability of national "e-waste policy," absence of formal take-back system, absence of financing and subsidies, inadequate source separation programmes, absence of technical and logistical integration of pre-processing and end-processing facilities, and limited infrastructure and access to technologies and investment. Effective strategies such as an "integrated approach" (mixed options), access to technologies, establishment of pre-processing and end-processing facilities and optimization of logistics, optimizing diversion of e-waste from disposal sites, and investment in e-waste are suggested to manage this complex waste stream in an environmentally sound way.