Local e-waste joint-venture, NamiGreen, recycled the equivalent to 10,000 computer monitors in 2019 – a 100 % increase from previous year.
2019 was a good year in terms of recycling for Namibia. Increased awareness amongst Namibian citizens and companies contributed to a 100 % growth in the amount of electronic waste recycled. In 2019, Namibian recycling joint-venture NamiGreen (www.namigreen.com) recycled 102,000 kg of electronic waste, or e-waste. A number that doubles the previous record set in 2018 of 50,000 kg.
For 2019, that means NamiGreen recycled the equivalent to 10,000 computer monitors – that is 10,000 computer monitors not ending up in a Namibian landfill!
Electronic waste is basically every electronic device or gadget that no longer works or serves a purpose – typical items of e-waste include computer monitors, printers, computers, laptops, phones and other electronic household devices.
The CEO of NamiGreen, Mr. Per Hansen explains that “the company’s focus on service, availability, and professional handling of e-waste has attracted more clients than previous years. Those factors, as well as increased awareness in the Namibian society, the work of organizations like Recycle Namibia Forum (www.rnf.com.na) and increased governmental focus has allowed us to recycle even more e-waste than before. All of this would not have happened without the help of all our suppliers, clients, stakeholders and the people involved in our e-waste recycling mission.”
Early forecasts for 2020 reveal more growth for the Namibian e-waste recycler, and NamiGreen is again expected beat previous e-waste recycling rates.
Recycling e-waste is important – but why?
Recycling is important for the future of any country. “If we don’t want to live in a toxic dump, we need to recycle”, says Mr. Hansen and continues “Majority of all electronic gadgets and devices contain materials that can cause harm to the precious eco-systems we have around us, to human and animal health as well as pollute our drinking and fishing waters if the electronics are not recycled properly.”
The standard practice in Namibia for many years was to landfill electronic waste but instead NamiGreen now creates jobs and removes the hazardous materials from the environment.
Free e-waste collection service and more growth in 2020
In 2020, NamiGreen continues its growth strategy and expects to partner with more cities, companies as well as citizens in order to combat the growing amounts of electronic waste. Today, NamiGreen E-waste already works with the largest companies and organizations in Namibia.
“Citizens can easily recycle their used and broken electronics by placing it in one of the e-waste bins we have”, says the CEO and continues “we offer companies and organisations a free e-waste collection service, where they simply call us or can go to our website – www.namigreen.com and book an e-waste collection online in a few minutes. That has been very well received and and we expect even more companies to use the service in 2020″.
Fact box:
- According to the United Nations, 80 % of all e-waste generated annually on global scale, is not recycled.
- E-waste or electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world according to the United Nations
- More than 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste was generated globally in 2016 (latest figures) – that number is expected to increase to more than 52 million metric tonnes in 2021 according to the UN
- The continent with the highest recycling rate is Europe, recycling 35 % of all its e-waste, Asia comes in 2nd with 22%, Americas 17 % and Oceania with 6%. Africa recycles around 0.5 % (UN)
For more information and press enquiries please contact:
NamiGreen – https://www.namigreen.com – Founder / CEO Mr. Per E. Hansen – info@namigreen.com – (+264) 081 256 4136 / (+45) 42 50 20 30
