The issue is not with the export of waste because in Nigeria they repair computers until they don't work any longer but there is still no facility to recycle them in an environmental way
Dr Margaret Bates, University of Northampton
The project has support from the Nigerian government and is intended to help Nigerians recycle equipment which is currently dumped in landfill. This is especially important because of the high number of items which are shipped to the country for reuse by organisations such as Reclaimed Appliances.
Last month, the presence of waste electrical equipment in Nigeria came to the fore when a joint Greenpeace, The Independent and Sky News investigation found that a television damaged beyond use was taken from a Hampshire county council recycling centre and exported under the auspice of being fit for reuse (see letsrecycle.com story).
Proposals for the Lagos facility were first pitched in July 2008 and have involved the University of Northampton and Reclaimed Appliances meetings with Defra, the Environment Agency and the Nigerian Government.
And, the project has seen Professor Oladele Osibanjo, director at the Basel Convention's Regional Co-ordinating Centre for Africa and Dr. Oludayo Dada, director of pollutions at the Nigerian federal ministry of environment, visiting the UK to understand how WEEE recycling facilities work.
Rob Truscott, managing director of Reclaimed Appliances, sponsored trips for members of the research and development department at Nottinghamshire University to visit Nigeria to gauge the necessity for a plant.
He told letsrecycle.com: “We as a company, we have a responsibility for those items to the end of their working life and there is no equivalent in the majority of developing countries.”
Education
Applications for funding to build the facility and train workers have been made to the British Council by Dr Margaret Bates, manager of the SITA Centre at the University of Northampton, which promotes sustainable waste management.
Dr. Bates said: “The issue is not with the export of waste because in Nigeria they repair computers until they don't work any longer but there is still no facility to recycle them in an environmental way. It is not fair that countries like Nigeria do not have the opportunity to develop these facilities to deal with WEEE when it is at the end of its life.”
Reclaimed Appliances and the University of Northampton are hopeful of having a plant in place towards the end of 2009. If successful, they said that the plant could be used as a template for developing similar facilities throughout Africa.
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