Page 32 - index

E-wastE casE study

as receivers of e-waste, especially in
the form of ‘deferred dumping’ of white
goods.

“A more conscientious household,”
Werth explains, “will take a broken
microwave oven to the municipal
rubbish dump, which does not have the
capability of handling e-waste, but at
least they took the trouble of taking it to
the rubbish dump.”

An alternative path is that the microwave
gets passed down from an affluent to a
less affluent family. The microwave oven
will work for a while if the family somehow
manages to fix it, but will eventually end
up being thrown away.

“What actually happens is that when
there is no longer any value that could
be derived from [the microwave oven],
it ends up in a rural area,” says Werth.

more than e-waste kilo. The WeCare e-waste collection negligible portion of e-waste, which
model differs from the industry norm accounts for about 10% of turnover in
WeCare NPC works on a simple of collecting only the more lucrative some of the containers. Consequently,
e-waste collection business model IT and consumer electronics e-waste. the e-waste model is reliant on other
in order to break down the cycle of Instead, WeCare NPC pays for all sorts income streams. The containers
deferred e-waste in rural communities. of e-waste, from fridges to computers, serve as local information technology
At the centre of the model is the use which in turn gets sold to SIMS RSA. nodes, where locals could access the
of customised and strategically placed internet, print documents, buy airtime
shipping containers. Currently, three While the policy of buying any e-waste or refurbished computers (or have them
shipping containers in the communities is not always profitable for either SIMS repaired or exchanged for new ones).
of Groutvillle, Shaka’s Kraal and Shaka’s RSA or WeCare NPC, doing otherwise
Head, in the vicinity of Ballito, serve as would defeat the purpose of sustainably Not exactly a cash churner; the e-waste
e-waste collection points. ridding the rural areas of e-waste, business enterprise has achieved
argues Werth. the objective of being a worthy and
WeCare NPC buys unprocessed replicable model. It demonstrates that
e-waste from the community at R1 per WeCare NPC director, Mtshali, concurs what may at first have appeared to
kilo; dismantled e-waste fetches R2 per that the rural areas generate an almost be a problem could be turned into an
opportunity, not only to create much
needed jobs but also to contribute
to bridging the digital divide in rural
communities. n

30 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 11 No. 3 of 2018