Producer responsibility when WEEE has a value

E-Waste in Africa and other emerging markets is posing a challenge as well as a significant opportunity. E-waste is a valuable resource for the re-use, and secondary raw material markets. The countries in the region, however, lack the infrastructure and resources for the environmentally sound management of electrical and electronic waste or e-waste arising when such products reach their end-of-life. Processing and disposing of e-waste incorrectly can be a human health and environmental hazard. In the last decade we have seen increasing attention by international governments, producers and non-governmental bodies to the issue of e-waste. We are seeing the emergence of several policy mechanisms being adopted by governments to manage e-waste, varying significantly from country to country. First we will analyze the trends with e-waste and its subsequent management and the emergence of e-waste related policy. This will be followed by an analysis of some of the basic principles of e-waste management, drawn from several years of experience in setting up and managing e-waste systems. The paper will highlight some of the work HP and other OEM's have undertaken in e-waste management in Africa before drawing conclusions to the question of where should producer responsibility lie when WEEE has a value and what safeguards are necessary to ensure that all e-waste is managed appropriately.