Public awareness and sustainability of e-waste management in Kenya

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VIII, Issue XII, December 2021 | ISSN 2321–2705

Public awareness and sustainability of e-waste management in Kenya

Edwin Omondi Arwa¹, Prof. Charles M. Rambo, PhD^2*, Dr. Isaac Abuya, PhD^3*
1MA Project Planning and Management, University of Nairobi, Kenya
²Senior Lecturer PhD, University of Nairobi, School of Continuing and Distance Education, Kenya
³Senior Lecturer PhD, University of Nairobi, School of Continuing and Distance Education, Kenya

*Corresponding author

Abstract: The increased use of electronic gadgets has proportionately increased the accumulation of e-waste. Currently, E waste in Kisumu is informally managed and it is not known whether the informal management of e-waste is sustainable. The purpose of this study was to assess the public awareness on sustainability of e-waste management in Kisumu City, Kenya. The research adopted a descriptive survey design and data collected using questionnaires, interviews, Focus Group Discussions and observation from a sample size of 425 respondents selected through simple random sampling out of a target population of 148,494 households while analysis involved descriptive statistics. The study concludes that the current e-waste management is not sustainable because: there is no monitoring of the volumes of e-waste generated making it difficult to plan for its disposal, there is a high turnover of e-waste of 78% every 5 years without a corresponding mechanism for reducing, recycling and reusing, the current level of stakeholder awareness on e-waste management is not adequate, policy formulation and enforcement by relevant government ministries remains weak and investors and NGOs are unwilling to invest in this area due to expensive capital infrastructure and technology inadequacy. The study recommends that NEMA e-waste management guideline 2010 should be enforced to ensure proper reduce, reuse, recycling and disposal besides amendments to Public Health Act (1962), Urban Areas and Cities Act No.13 of 2011 (Cap. 265) to comply with the NEMA guideline. MIC should enforce their requirement for Extended Producer Responsibility on ICT Actors. The relevant ministries and the civil society need to create awareness of e-waste and its safe handling. KEBS should train expertise in forensic audit of hazardous components included in electronic equipment and discourage importation of such substances.

Keywords: Public awareness, sustainability, E-waste management

I. INTRODUCTION

The growth in electronic equipment production and consumption has been exponential in the last two decades due to urbanization and the growing demand for consumer goods in different regions of the world (Babu et al., 2007); eventually leading to increased volume of e-waste. Financial constraints on acquiring ICT materials in developing regions has led to consumption of second hand products (Nnorom & Odjango, (2007)) besides internal generation or illegal importation of used goods in an attempt to bridge the digital divide.
About 20 to 50 million tones of electronic waste (“e-waste”) are generated worldwide every year, much of which has been

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