As Victor Irenimi prepared to move houses, he was faced with the task of decluttering. Among the clutter was a collection of old gadgets, mobile phones, laptops, and other long-forgotten electronics.
“I needed to declutter my space, so I finally had time to go through my bag of faulty devices,” he said. “Seeing they were beyond repair, I sold them off to scrap metal buyers. I don’t know exactly what they do with them, but I made about N3,000 – N5,000 on each device.”
Tajudeen Akin, a marketing executive, also owns several broken gadgets but hasn’t gotten around to disposing of them. “I leave them in my house. Thrashing them isn’t so important because they aren’t exactly hurting anyone by being in the house, but if I were to thrash them, I would most likely sell them off to scrap metal buyers,” he said.
Like Akin and Irenimi, many Nigerians get rid of unusable electronics by selling them to scrap buyers. While this may seem like a practical solution, it contributes to a much larger issue: the improper disposal of electronic waste (e-waste).
Nigeria’s Growing E-Waste Problem
E-waste refers to discarded electronic and electrical equipment such as phones, laptops, TVs, radios, gaming consoles, and household appliances. These items, once unusable, often contain toxic materials and require proper recycling to avoid environmental harm.
But in Nigeria, many people unknowingly add to the country’s mounting e-waste crisis through improper disposal. In electronics markets across the country, traders and technicians routinely sell scrap components, though the end destinations of these materials are largely unknown.
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Ifeanyi Akubue, president of the Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria, stated, “Some people buy the scraps, but we don’t know exactly what they use them for. What we do know is that every part, panel, wire, and other component has some use. Scrap buyers come to purchase these discarded parts from our engineers, and we are also trying to understand their purpose.”
A significant portion of discarded electronics ends up in landfills or is dismantled in unsafe conditions, allowing toxic substances to seep into the soil and water. This issue is part of a global trend, with e-waste expected to surge to 74.7 million tonnes by 2030, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
E-waste is one of the fastest-growing environmental challenges in the world. According to the 2024 Global E-Waste Monitor, if current trends continue, the world will generate 82 billion kilograms of e-waste annually by 2030.
The UN’s fourth Global E-waste Monitor (GEM), published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), reported that Nigeria generated approximately 500,000 metric tonnes of e-waste in 2022. This is the highest figure in West Africa and the third highest in Africa, behind Egypt and South Africa.
Around 100,000 people work in Nigeria’s informal electronics recycling sector, according to the UN Environment Programme. While this provides livelihoods, the dismantling process is often done without proper equipment or safety precautions, exposing workers to hazardous chemicals like lead, mercury, and cadmium.
The Hoarding Problem
Beyond selling to scrap metal buyers, some individuals simply store their broken devices.
Deborah Anuoluwapo, for instance, has accumulated multiple faulty mobile devices over the years. “Before this phone I currently use, I have had several phones that stopped working, and they are still at home. I also have a camera, a laptop, and a radio, all irreparable, just lying there,” she said.
Asked why she hasn’t disposed of them properly, she replied, “What is the proper way to dispose of gadgets like these?”
Jolade Muyiwa, a remote worker, echoed, “I have an iPhone 7 and a laptop, both condemned. I have thought about throwing them away many times, but am I supposed to just throw them in the bin?”
Muyiwa and Anuoluwapo feel that simply discarding their condemned gadgets seems wrong, highlighting a challenge that ranges from a lack of disposal knowledge to sentimental attachment.
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Potential Solutions
One potential solution is the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs, a policy approach that holds manufacturers accountable for the full lifecycle of their products, including disposal. This approach incentivises companies to design products that are easier to recycle and manage.
In 2018, Nigeria established the E-Waste Producer Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON), a non-profit supported by electronics producers such as HP, Dell, Philips, Microsoft, and Deloitte, to promote responsible e-waste recycling.
Despite EPRON’s presence, enforcement remains weak. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) continues to urge developing countries to prioritise effective e-waste legislation.
During last year’s International E-Waste Day, the ITU encouraged global citizens to “Join the e-waste hunt – retrieve, recycle, and revive!”
To support this, organisations like the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), United Nations Agency for Digital Technologies, and Fondation Carmignac are working to provide technical assistance to countries seeking to implement e-waste regulations.
Speaking at a recent event, Ayorinde Akintoye, Chairman of EPRON, emphasised the urgent need to curb the waste of resources. Citing the Global E-Waste Monitor 2024, he noted that nearly 25 per cent of end-of-life electronics still end up in household.
“Immediate action in the right direction is required. Addressing this problem requires raising awareness of the issues and the necessary changes,” he said.
Globally, the mobile industry is moving to recycle and create new use cases for the five billion mobile phones that are currently sitting unused. According to GSMA, the global body for telcos, this move will reduce e-waste and extend the longevity of mobile devices by giving them a second life.
Emmanuel Osho, founder of Tinc Group, advised that when devices are beyond repair, they should be handed over to an authorised service centre where they can be properly recycled.
“While an old device may be useless to the end user, its components can still be valuable for repairs or refurbishment,” he said.
Since Nigeria lacks large-scale recycling plants, service centres play a crucial role in extracting reusable parts before responsibly recycling the remaining materials.
“The correct process involves separating key components like the semiconductor parts from plastics and metals. Once separated, plastics and metals can be processed and reintroduced into production, while semiconductor components can be repurposed in other ways. Proper recycling ensures that these materials don’t end up as hazardous waste,” Osho added.
