Namibia ranked amongst the highest ‘e-waste-generating’ countries in Africa – stats
E-waste statistics from the UN, ITU and ISWA tells that the relatively high living standards in the country is the main explaining factor for the high amounts of e-waste generated per inhabitant, according to NamiGreen.
African e-waste company, NamiGreen is managing the growing amount of e-waste in Africa, and recently started e-waste operations in the country.
NamiGreen in data sourced from the Global E-waste Monitor 2017 said of the 53 countries on the African continent, Namibia is 7th highest ‘e-waste generating country’ measured in kg/inhabitant.
“The inhabitants of Namibia are generating even more e-waste per inhabitant than countries like South Africa, Nigeria andKenya,” they said.
According to NamiGreen, on average, every local citizen generates around 6 kg / e-waste per year, which totals to 14.000 metric tonnes of e-waste generated per year.
“Seychelles currently takes the number one spot in Africa with almost double the amount of e-waste generated per inhabitant. There is a direct correlation between living standards and amount of e-waste generated,” NamGreen noted.
The amounts of e-waste generated are the sum of the six e-waste categories: Temperature Exchange Equipment, Screens, Monitors, Lamps. Large equipment, Small equipment, Small IT and telecommunication equipment according to statistics from UN, ITU, ISWA
Meanwhile, Egypt and South Africa produces the largest total volumes of e-waste, followed closely by Nigeria. The explanation is due the shear size of the populations.
Worldwide, Norway, United Kingdom and Denmark has the highest e-waste generating populations measured by ‘e-waste generated/inhabitant’, with Norway generating 28,5 kg e-waste/inhabitant, UK 24,90 kg/inhabitant and Denmark closely following by 24,80 kg/inhabitant. These numbers are almost 4-5 times larger than those of Namibia.
