E-waste management policy to be ready by January 2023
Malawi Communications and Regulatory Authority (Macra) Deputy Director of Telecommunications, Edward Kauka, has disclosed that the E-Waste Management Policy will be ready for implementation by January 2023.
Kauka made the remarks during a validation meeting to give opportunity to provide final inputs into the policy and ensure its validity held on Thursday in Lilongwe.
He said there is a concern over the unsafe handling of used electronics and E-Waste that result in harm to human health and environment.
“The rapid growth of the digital society and consumer demand for digital devices is contributing to waste,” he said.
Kauka observed that the policy is critical to the management of e-waste in Malawi because of acute growth of e-waste in the country.
Apart from protection of human health and environment, he said, the implementation of the policy will contribute to the socio-economic development of the country through the creation of decent jobs.
Deputy Director of Legal matters in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Victoria Kachimera said the policy will compliment government’s efforts to address the emerging environmental and human health challenges.
“As a Department of Environmental Affairs, we have been providing the basis for the country to strengthen the management and regulation of e-waste,” she said.
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Program Officer for Southern Africa, Annarita Sembuga said the organization is proud of Malawi for being among the few countries in Africa to have e-waste policy.
“The policy is very important because it allows used gadgets to be disposed off effectively and efficiently without damaging the environment and harm lives,,” she said.
Sembuga added that e-waste if well managed can generate a lot of revenues because in e-waste there are a lot of minerals that when extracted can be a source of income.
There are multifaceted benefits for having e-waste like clean environment, job opportunities, economic development through mineral extraction, she said.
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