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Formalisation of E-Waste Recycling: Making it a Reality
B. Yose, Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, Private Bag X9059, Pietermaritzburg,
South Africa, 3200. Email: babalwa.yose@kzndae.gov.za
ABSTRACT
Statistics indicate that there is an increase in electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) in South Africa each
and every year. E-waste recycling, which helps to minimise this e-waste problem is taking place in South
Africa but it is mainly dominated by the informal sector. Informal e-waste recycling impacts negatively on
human health and the environment, hence e-waste stakeholders such as government and electronic
equipment producers prefer formal recycling of e-waste. In spite of its disadvantages and
avoidance/discouragement by the industry, informal recycling persists and this points to serious short-
comings in the formalisation efforts by all present. Key in the list of factors that make informal recycling to
persist are start-up costs, operational costs, and unrealistic policies preventing the biggest consumer
(government) of electronic equipment from supplying e-waste to recyclers. Addressing and resolving these
factors may be the key that unlocks a great progress in the formalisation of e-waste recycling.
1. INTRODUCTION
Waste from used or obsolete electrical and electronic equipment – commonly known as e-waste or WEEE –
is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams around the world today. The best strategy to manage e-
waste is the recycling of it. For the purposes of this paper the word “recycling” will refer to processes where
e-waste is collected and separated into various material (dismantling), hence those responsible for collecting
and dismantling e-waste will be referred to as recyclers. Those responsible for processing recovered
materials from e-waste into new products will be referred to as re-processors.
E-waste recycling in South Africa is mainly saturated by informal recyclers. There are 40,000 plus informal
general waste collectors estimated to be working in South Africa (EWASA, 2008).It is likely that most of
them, at some time or another, have dealt with e-waste. E-waste recyclables have more value (in terms of
money) than general waste recyclables, it is therefore also highly likely that most of them will also have
become e-waste recyclers. This informal recycling of e-waste is good for the management of e-waste in
South Africa, however the negative impacts it has on human health and environment has made it to be least
favoured option amongst most e-waste stakeholders. Various initiatives have attempted to structure or
formalize e-waste recycling but they have been unsuccessful.
This lack of success in formalizing e-waste recycling in South Africa can be confirmed through the
implementation process of the "Durban Declaration on e-Waste Management in Africa" during the
WasteCon2008 in Durban, South Africa. It was agreed that every country requires its own process to define
its specific roadmap, however the following general recommendations were suggested:
* Improve cooperation among stakeholders
* Establish an institutional framework
* Create awareness at all levels of governance & the general public
* Support markets
* Collect and manage data
* Develop a legal framework
* Develop a qualified and efficient e-waste recycling sector
South Africa has had some progress in implementing the recommendations of this declaration, such as:
* EWASA produced a technical guidelines document on the recycling of e-waste in September 2009.
* In November 2013,the Africa Institute supported by Finnish Environmental Institute (SYKE), in
association with the African Telecommunications Union and Information Technology Association
Producer Environmental Group (ITA EPR) organized a public-private sector policy dialogue in
addressing e-waste management in Africa which endorsed the declarations recommendations of
improving cooperation among e-waste stakeholders and of establishing an institutional framework.
Yose, B. Proceedings of the 20th WasteCon Conference
6-10 October 2014. Somerset West, Cape Town
576 Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa

* In 2012, Re-Ethical in partnership with the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa
(IWMSA), Jeffares & Green Engineering & Environmental Consultants and various shopping centres
around South Africa organised a national e-waste collection drive which created massive e-waste
awareness. In the Pietermaritzburg 3 500 tons of e-waste were collected from the drive. Due to the
great success of the one in 2012, they organised it again in 2013 and it looks like it is going to be an
annual event.
Formalization of e-waste recycling is the only recommendation that is having a very slow implementation
progress. This slow progress in achieving formalization of e-waste recycling as recommended by the
declaration is an indication of an environment bias towards the opposite. The failure to formalize e-waste
recycling is mainly due to the refusal by e-waste recyclers to operate formally. It then becomes imperative for
one to understand why e-waste recyclers refuse to operate formally. This understanding will then determine
the initiatives to be taken in ensuring that e-waste formalization is successfully implemented.
This paper therefore seeks to look into detail at the reasons that make e-waste recyclers to mainly recycle e-
waste informally despite the negative impacts associated with informal e-waste recycling. It also seeks to
look at what measures can be taken by all e-waste stakeholders in ensuring that the formalisation of the e-
waste recycling sector becomes a reality.
2. E-WASTE ON THE VERGE OF BECOMING A CRISIS IN SA
South Africa is one of the African developing countries that has established a stronger economy than the rest
of other African developing countries. This stronger South African economy coincided with the digital
revolution which has led to explosive production and extensive use of electronic and electrical devices and
goods. As a result South Africa has become one of the leading developing countries in the consumption of
electronic and electrical goods. This has then led it to be one of the leading developing countries in e-waste
generation.
UNEP in 2009 developed a report which stated that South Africa, with an e-waste generation of almost
60 000 tonnes in 2007, was the fourth highest e-waste generating developing country and the first highest e-
waste African developing country as illustrated by Table 1 below.
Table 1: Quantity of different e-waste goods (in metric tonne) generated by developing countries in the 2005
- 2007 year range
Amongst other things, the UNEP report also predicted that in South Africa, China and India, from 2007 to
2010, e-waste from old computers will have jumped by between 200 to 400 percent in China and South
Africa and by 500% in India. StEP (http://step-initiative.org/index.php/WorldMap.html), has produced the first
of a kind e-waste world-map, which provides comparable, country-level data on the amount of electrical and
electronic equipment put on the market and the resulting amount of e-waste generated in most countries
around the world. This map indicates that in 2012 South Africa generated almost 340 000 tonnes of e-waste
while India and China generated just above 2 750 000 and 7 250 000 tonnes of e-waste respectively
(illustrated in Figure 2).
Countries China India Mexico Brazil South Africa Peru Morocco Columbia Kenya Uganda Senegal
Assessment Date 2007 2007 2006 2005 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2007 2007
PCs 300 000 56 300 47 500 96 800 19 400 6000 13 500 6 500 2 500 1 300 900
Printers 60 000 4 700 9 500 17 200 4 300 1 200 2 700 1 300 500 250 180
Mobile Phones 7 000 1 700 1 100 2 200 850 220 1 700 1 200 150 40 100
TVs 1 350 000 275 000 166 500 137 00 23 700 11 500 15 100 18 300 2 800 1 900 1 900
Refrigerators 495 000 101 300 44 700 115 100 11 400 5 500 5 200 8 800 1 400 900 650
Total e-waste 2 212 000 439 000 269 300 231 300 59 650 24 420 38 200 36 100 7 350 4 390 3 730

Figure 1: Quantity of e-waste generated by
developing countries in 2007 (UNEP, 2009)
Figure 2: Quantity of e-waste generated by
developing countries in 2012 (StEP)
Comparing UNEP’s e-waste generation figures by these three countries (South Africa, India and China) in
2007 (Figure 1) with StEP’s e-waste generation figures (Figure 2) by the same countries in 2012, UNEP’s e-
waste generation prediction by these countries from 2007 to 2010 is proved to be almost correct (the
prediction is slightly lower for South Africa and India but it is on point for China). South Africa went from
generating almost 60 000 tonnes of e-waste in 2007 to generating almost 340 000 tonnes in 2012 (566
percent jump). India went from generating 439 000 e-waste tonnes in 2007 to generating above 2 750 000
tonnes in 2012 (627 percent jump) while China went from generating 2 212 000 e-waste tonnes in 2007 to
7 253 000 tonnes in 2012 (328 percent jump).
UNEP had predicted China and South Africa’s e-waste generation percentage jump to be the same
(between 200 and 400%) between 2007 and 2010, yet in 2012 South Africa has almost doubled that of
China with its 566 % jump compared to the 328% of China. Taking into consideration that China has a
population that is way above that of South Africa, this indicates that the high rate at which e-waste is
generated in South Africa is not very far from becoming a crisis, if it is not managed properly.
3. MANAGEMENT OF E-WASTE IN SOUTH AFRICA
E-waste management practises may be summarised into four major mechanisms, namely (Dr. Mathias
Schluep, 2010):
* Policy and legislation
* Monitoring and control
* Marketing and awareness
* Technology and skills
3.1 Policy and legislation
Table 2 below shows some of the international and South African legislation impacting on e-waste (Yose,
Mnyaka & Binda, 2012).
The rest of the mechanisms (Monitoring and control, Marketing and awareness, Technology and skills) are
the same as the recommendations suggested in the Durban e-waste management declaration. The way in
which they are implemented has been discussed in section 1.The technology and skills mechanism which
Dr. Mathias Schluep describes as the formalization of an informal e-waste recycling sector is the only
mechanism not being currently implemented in South Africa is. As stated in section 1, to successfully
implement e-waste formalisation, one must first understand why e-waste recyclers favour informal recycling
over formal recycling.

Table 2: Some of the international and South African legislation
4. FORMAL VS INFORMAL OPERATION FOR A SOUTH AFRICAN E-WASTE RECYCLING BUSINESS
4.1 Formal e-waste recycling operation
Recycling e-waste formally in South Africa means adhering to the following 7steps:
* Step 1: Be declared as a legal entity
* Step 2: Obtain supply of the e-waste to be recycled
* Step 3: Obtain start-up capital
* Step 4: Be authorized to operate
* Step 5: Acquire and secure all operation necessities
* Step 6: Obtain customers for the dismantled recyclables
* Step 7: Have transportation for the e-waste
Step 1: Be declared as a legal entity
To have a business declared as a legal entity in South Africa, it must mainly be registered with Companies
and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and the South African Revenue Services (SARS).
INTERNATIONAL CONTENT Country
Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Directive
Promote e-waste recycling thus achieving
reduction of e-waste landfilling.
European Union
Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Regulations
Assigns responsibilities to certain producers of
electrical and electronic devices.
European Union
Restriction of Hazardous
Substances (RoHS) Directive
Restriction of certain hazardous materials in the
production of electrical and electronic devices.
European Union
Restriction of Hazardous
Substances (RoHS) Regulations
Deals with exemptions for RoSH list and
concentration limits for the listed
chemicals.Restriction and phasing out of
hazardous materials
European Union
Registration, Evaluation,
Authorisation and Restriction of
Chemicals (REACH)
Covers the responsibility of Industry in assessing
and managing risks associated with their
products by providing safety information.
European Union
NATIONAL CONTENT Country
National Environmental
Management Act , 107 of 1998
Environmental protection legislation. South Africa
National Environmental
Management: Waste Act, 59 of
2008
Promotion of waste hierarchy to encourage
recycling.
South Africa
Second Hand Goods Act of 2009 Registration of 2nd
hand goods dealers with the
National Police Commissioner and Identification
of second hand goods sellers for ease of
investigation.
South Africa
National Waste Information
System Regulations
A system for capturing recycling statistics for the
country.
South Africa
Waste Classification Regulations Decision on whether waste is hazardous or
general.
South Africa
Consumer Protection Act, 68 of
2008
Rights of consumers South Africa

The first thing to do when registering a business with CIPC is to reserve a list of names for the company and
the application cost for the reservation is R75. One then registers the company and the company registration
cost is R475. Provided that you have at least one name that is not already in use in the list of names
reserved, the duration process of the registration is about 2 to 3 months. If all the names are in use one has
to pay another R75 and reserve another set of names until there is name that can be allocated to the
company and this name reservation process can run for weeks before one can register the company. The
company registration with CIPC has to be renewed on an annual basis with a renewal fee of R100.
Once the business has been registered and registration documents have been issued, one must then
register for taxation with SARS. The registration at SARS is immediate and at no cost but one of the
requirements for the registration with SARS is the possession of a bank account by the company and the
application of that account can take up to a week. This is mostly due to the fact that when applying for a
business bank account number one has to first set a consultation appointment with a bank business advisor,
who will mostly advise the company on how to best use the banking resources to suit their business. Only
after consulting with the bank business advisor can the company apply for a business account number. The
application fee for a business bank account ranges between R200 and R2000 depending on the bank. Some
banks have step ladder categories for business banking with each category only having the services that are
applicable to the particular stage your business is at, while some banks offer you the full business banking
services in one go, hence the difference in the application fee.
The whole process of having your business declared as a legal entity takes an average duration of 4 months
and has a fee cost in the range of R750 – R2 550.
Step 2: Obtain supply of the e-waste to be recycled
For the e-waste recycling business to run as a formal business it needs constant supply of the e-waste to
recycle. To access this e-waste one has to liaise with the e-waste generators such as government
departments, private companies and households.
To procure anything from a government department one has to first register with the Department of Treasury
and be on their database. Once registered with them and in possession of the Department of Treasury
database number, you may then proceed to register with the supply chain section of the desired government
department. Since all government departments are e-waste generators one has to therefore register with all
of them. The registration process with government department entails filling a vendor database registration
form of the desired government department. The vendor database registration form one has to fill in is 60
pages long and the following documentation has to be attached:
* Original tax clearance certificate
* Certified copy of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment(B-BBEE) verification certificate
* Certified copies of identity documents of directors
* Certified copies of business registration documents
* Bank statement
* Proof of business address
* Certification of correctness of information which has to be completed in the presence of a
commissioner of oaths
Given that we have close to 50 government departments in South Africa it takes an average of 1 month to
prepare all the documents needed for these registrations.
The B-BBEE verification certificate mentioned above as one of the necessary documents needed for vendor
registration with any government department is issued to you by a B-BBEE verification agency once it has
audited your company in terms if the B-BBEE Act. The audit and processing of a B-BBEE certificate for a
new company takes a minimum of 2 weeks and costs R950. The B-BBEE certificate is renewed annually for
an equivalent of the same amount based on the inflation. Registration for a B-BBEE status mandates one to
appoint an accountant whose fees range of R500- R6 000 depending on the service provided by the
accountant. For operating businesses, the fee ranges between R350 – R750 per hour for the duration of the
audit. A transport fee of R4 per kilometre from the B-BBEE verification to your business premises is also
charged for operating businesses.
Obtaining supply of the e-waste to be recycled is a long process, where you may have to compile a business
profile or presentations and use those to pitch his/her business in order to procure the e-waste to be
recycled. The registration with government department with its B-BBEE registration requirement is just the
first stage in the long process of procuring e-waste to be recycled, and it takes an average duration of 1
month and has an average fee cost R2 722.70.

Once you have been registered and are on the government department database, the government
department requires you to be accredited by E-waste Association of South Africa (EWASA).To be audited
and accredited by EWASA you need to be an EWASA member. The subscription fees for EWASA
membership are as follows:
* Entrance fee (non refundable ) = R500
* Annual subscription fee = R2000
* Fee/ per employee (capped at 651 employees) = R20 * 5. For a viable e-waste recycling business
a minimum of 5 workers must be employed (Yose, 2012).
The total cost in the first year of application is R2600 along with the annual subscription fee of R2000.
Step 3: Obtain start-up capital
Every new formal business needs start-up capital and an operating capital for the first 6 months. There are
several sources of business finance available but all those sources require a business plan Creating a
business plan takes an average of 2 months and the range of costs for creating it, is R7 000 – R12 000.
Step 4: Be authorized to operate
Legal considerations for recycling e-waste as a small business include applying for a Waste Management
License. When wanting to apply for a waste management license one must appoint an Environmental
Assessment Practitioner (EAP) that will handle the waste management license application. E-waste recycling
for a small business is listed in Category A on the latest waste management activity list. It therefore requires
the application of a basic assessment. This basic assessment is conducted by the appointed EAP, it takes a
minimum of 60 days to be conducted and costs range from R40 000 – R50 000. When the business grows it
may become listed in Activity B category which will now require scoping and an environmental impact
assessment (EIA). Conducting the scoping and EIA takes a minimum duration of 105 days with relative
steep costs depending on the specialist appointed to conduct it.
Step 5: Acquire and secure all operation necessities
Operating an e-waste recycling business requires certain necessities such as:
* Premises to operate on
* Protective wear for employees such as safety shoes, work suit, gloves, ear muffs, etc.
* Tools to dismantle the e-waste with such as screw drivers, pliers, etc.
* Security of the premises, tools, etc. from breakins, theft, etc.
* Insurance for the business, premises, tools, in case any unfortunate event may befall them
o Premises
Acquiring and securing premises takes an average of 1 month and the monthly rental fee for premises
suitable for a small recycler ranges between R9 000 – R 13 000. The first month rental fee is required to be
accompanied by a deposit fee ranging between (R20 000 and R25 000).The premises need to have the
basic utilities such as water and electricity and ablution facilities. There is a cost to open an account for these
utilities and there is also a monthly fee that is charged based on the rate of their usage.
o Protective wear equipment and tools
The protective wear equipment and tools needed to operate a small recycling business costs approximately
R43 300 as shown in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Costs of protective wear equipment and tools for a small business
Once all the operation requirements have been acquired, security measures have to be in place to protect
them mostly against damage and theft. Also insurance for the business against any unfortunate event that
may befall it, has to be in place. The cost of installing a basic alarm system in a small business is in the
R4 000 – R7 000 range along with a monthly monitoring fee of approximately R750 including armed
response. The monthly fee for insuring a small recycling business is in the R3 000 – R6 000 range.
The total costs for acquiring, securing and insuring operational equipment is in the R70 000 – R80 000
range.
Step 6: Obtain buyers for the dismantled recyclables
E-waste recyclables have a market in both South Africa and countries outside South Africa. Recyclables of
one desktop (tower, monitor, keyboard and mouse) in South Africa fetch between R51 and R62 (Yose et al.,
2012) while in countries outside South Africa they fetch between R109 and R120 with exporting costs also
included. The R50 difference between the South African market and international market makes e-waste
recyclers favour exporting their recyclables instead of selling them here in South Africa. When exporting
recyclables to another country the recycler needs to apply for an exporter’s code through SARS and that
takes a maximum of a month.
Recycling Tools Price Number Total
Basic Magnetic Screw Driver Set R 89.00 5 R 445.00
Torch magnetic screw Drivers set R 177.00 5 R 885.00
Claw 450g R 80.00 5 R 400.00
Wood chisel 10mm R 40.00 5 R 200.00
Trimming knife R 80.00 5 R 400.00
Spare knife blades R 3.00 5 R 15.00
Strong cutter R 100.00 5 R 500.00
Pliers S/cutter 150mm R 35.00 5 R 175.00
Pliers long-nose 200mm R 57.00 5 R 285.00
Plier MTS 200mm R 100.00 5 R 500.00
Scissors Professional 20 mm R 50.00 5 R 250.00
Testing screwdriver R 180.00 3 R 540.00
Pellet Jack R 2 500.00 2 R 5 000.00
Hand cart R 750.00 2 R 1 500.00
Total R 4 241.00 R 11 095.00
Refurbishing Tools Price Number Total
Heat sink grease R 100.00 4 R 400.00
HD protector R 280.00 10 R 2 800.00
Vacuum cleaner R 3 875.00 1 R 3 875.00
Multimeter R 650.00 3 R 1 950.00
Air gun 650 4 R 2 600.00
Total R 5 555.00 R 11 625.00
PPE Price Number Total
Suits R 900.00 5 R 4 500.00
Gloves R 100.00 24 R 2 400.00
Goggles R 90.00 5 R 450.00
Masks R 5.00 300 R 1 500.00
Shoes R 800.00 5 R 4 000.00
Antistatic wrist strap R 50.00 40 R 2 000.00
Back braces R 2 500.00 2 R 5 000.00
Total R 4 445.00 R 19 850.00
Others Price Number Total
First aid kit R 500.00 1 R 500.00
Fire extenguishers R 200.00 1 R 200.00
Total R 700.00 R 700.00
Total R 14 941.00 R 43 270.00
Five Workers

Another requirement for exporting is an affiliation with a local business chamber. Business chamber
registration fees are based on the number of workers employed in the company. For a viable e-waste
recycling business a minimum of 5 workers must be employed (Yose, 2012) and the business chamber
registration fee for 5 workers is R1 772.70. This registration is renewed annually for an equivalent of the
same amount based on the inflation. This affiliation also helps greatly when building relationships with
private companies in order to access defunct electronic equipment from them.
Step 7: Have transportation for the e-waste
The e-waste recycling business is mainly categorized by three stages such as:
* Collection of e-waste
* Dismantling and refurbishing of e-waste
* Selling of refurbished e-waste and recyclables found in the e-waste
Two of those stages (collection of e-waste and selling of recyclables found in the e-waste) require
transportation. The costs of transporting e-waste are very complex to calculate as there are many factors to
take into consideration but to give an idea of the costs, an 8 ton truck which can load a maximum of 190
computers in a radius of 80 km costs an average of R2500.
Over the above mentioned requirements for operating as a formal business, a recycler needs to be literate
and have a good command of the English language, because most things, such as SARS forms, B-BBEE
application forms, etc, are written in English. In cases where the recycler is illiterate (which are most cases),
he will need to employ a very efficient personal assistant and the minimum salary range for personal
assistants in the R4 000 – R6 000 range.
A most important aspect of functioning as a formal business is having a small office where all your
paperwork is kept. This office needs to have the basic communication equipment such as a computer and a
phone. The minimum cost of a computer and a phone is R5 000.
In summary, to operate as a formal small recycling business in South Africa requires the following (shown in
Table 4)
· Start-up up cost in the range of R165 000 – R197 000
· Monthly operating costs in the range of R40 000– R48 000 (including salaries but not taking into
account the transportation costs)
· 10 – 12 months to set up the business
Table 4: Summary of all costs and time frames involved in trying to operate a formal e-waste recycling
business
Expenses
Cost Lowest
Range (LR)
Cost Highest
Range (HR)
Monthly
cost LR
Monthly cost
HR
Time
(Months)LR
Time (Months)
HR
Registering a company R 550.00 R 550.00 R 8.33 R 8.33 2 3
Taxation R 0.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 0 0
Opening a bank account R 200.00 R 2 000.00 R 90.00 R 90.00 0.25 0.25
Registration fee for BBBEE R 950.00 R 950.00 R 950.00 R 950.00 0.5 0.5
Business chamber registration R 1 772.70 R 1 772.70 R 147.73 R 147.73 0.5 0.5
Business Plan R 7 000.00 R 12 000.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 2 2
Waste Management license R 40 000.00 R 50 000.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 2 3
EWASA registration R 2 500.00 R 2 500.00 R 175.00 R 175.00 0.5 0.5
Premises R 29 000.00 R 34 000.00 R 9 000.00 R 9 000.00 1 1
Electricity and Water deposit R 1 000.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 0 0
Tool & PPE R 43 270.00 R 43 270.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 0.25 0.25
Security R 4 000.00 R 7 000.00 R 750.00 R 750.00 0.25 0.25
Insurance costs R 3 000.00 R 6 000.00 R 3 000.00 R 6 000.00 0 0
Exporter's Code R 0.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 1 1
E-waste transportation
Travel expenditure R 2 000.00 R 3 000.00 R 2 000.00 R 3 000.00 0 0
Computer R 5 000.00 R 5 000.00 R 0.00 R 0.00 0 0
Director's Income R 8 000.00 R 10 000.00 R 8 000.00 R 10 000.00 0 0
Salaries R 12 500.00 R 12 500.00 R 12 500.00 R 12 500.00 0 0
Illiteracy cost R 4 000.00 R 6 000.00 R 4 000.00 R 6 000.00 0 0
Total R 164 742.70 R 196 542.70 R 40 621.06 R 48 621.06 10.25 12.25

To make profit and thus maintain the sustainability of the business, a monthly income of R60 000 has to be
made by the business. As mentioned above recyclables from one computer in South Africa will fetch
between R51 and R62 (Yose et al., 2012) while in countries outside South Africa they fetch between R109
and R120, this target monthly income will therefore only be reached if a range of 500 – 550 computers is
dismantled monthly and the recycler exports the recyclables. If the recycler does not export the recyclables
and sells them locally, a range of 970 – 1200 must be dismantled monthly.
4.2 Informal operation
Informal sector is defined as (Feng Wang, 2010):
· Self-employment and the jobs that are done by self-employed people, and which are neither
declared to, nor regulated by, the authorities. (http://www.tuition.com.hk/)
· The informal sector or informal economy is that part of an economy that is not taxed, monitored by
any form of government or included in any gross national product (GNP), unlike the formal
economy.(wikipedia)
· Informal sector is characterized by small-scale, labor-intensive, largely unregulated and
unregistered, low-technology manufacturing or provision of services (Wilson, Whiteman, & Tormin,
2001)
By definition all that you mainly require to operate an informal e-waste material recovery facility is access to
e-waste. Comparing that to the R165 000 minimum start up costs, R40 000 minimum monthly operating
costs and the 10 months minimum it takes to set up a formal e-waste recycling business for operation, it is
quite clear why e-waste recyclers opt to ignore all the dangers involved with e-waste recycling and operate
their businesses informally.
5. INTERVENTIONS THAT CAN MAKE THE FORMALISATION POSSIBLE
From above it can be deduced that to informally operate an e-waste material recovery mainly three things
need to be considered:
* Start – up funding to set up operation
* Large e-waste volumes to generate enough income to sustain the business
* Transportation costs of the e-waste
Besides the e-waste recyclers, there are three other major stakeholders (government, electronic equipment
producers and the electronic equipment consumers) in the e-waste sector. The two stakeholders
(government and electronic equipment producers) are the main ones that are majorly concerned with
managing e-waste and therefore have a huge role to play in ensuring the manifestation of the e-waste formal
sector occurs. Table 5 below illustrates a few issues that concern recyclers that are interested in operating
formally.
Table 5: Issues that mainly concern recyclers wanting to operate formally
ISSUE REMEDY
STAKEHOLDER FOR
CHANGE
Start – up funding to set up operation
All the avenues that are available
to fund an e-waste recycling
business require the possession
of a waste management license.
Funders should therefore not use
waste management license to as a
bench mark for obtaining funding.
Most of these funders are
government funders or
parastatals, therefore
government can be the one to
implement this and put it into
motion.
Most recyclers do not have the
minimum R40 000 to obtain a
waste management license in
order to obtain funding.
Development of e-waste recycling
norms and standards. Also a possible
solution although short term would be
to get post graduation Environmental
Management student to process
WMLs as part of their experiential
training.
Government, Industry, and
Academia
Large e-waste volumes to generate enough income to sustain business and transportation costs of e-waste

According to the government
asset disposal policies when
there is disposal of any asset, the
remaining value of the asset is
calculated recovered through
sale of the asset or captured as a
loss of revenue.
E-waste different from other
equipment in that it is hazardous and
not economically to repair. Therefore
its disposal requires departments to
pay disposal fees at the hazardous
landfill site. Asset disposal policies
should therefore be amended so that
they take into these facts when it
deals with e-waste.
Government
E-waste recyclers currently place
the logistic costs of the e-waste
to that e-waste generator who
requests recycling of their e-
waste. The current asset disposal
policies therefore make it difficult
for government to pay logistic
costs for something that is
already considered a loss. The
result is stock piling of e-waste
which deprives recyclers of
volumes that can support formal
business operations.
A fully implemented strategy by
electronic producers on handling the
logistic costs of e-waste will
encourage more recyclers to
formalize. This can be achieved
through extended producer
responsibility (EPR).
Government and Industry
South African citizens pay for the
disposal of their non-hazardous
(household refuse) waste and do
not want to pay for disposal of e-
waste even though it is disposed
with higher fees at hazardous
landfill sites. In fact, contrary to
what happens to other household
recyclables, owners general
expect e-waste recyclers to buy
their e-waste when they collect it.
South African citizens should be
paying for recycling or disposal of e-
waste as they pay for disposal or
recycling of solid waste.
Government, Industry, and
Communities
6. CONCLUSION
Formalisation of e-waste recycling is a brilliant strategy in managing e-waste. It has many benefits with some
rarely mentioned such as the fact that it can be used to collect e-waste data. This is a very important benefit
since in South Africa we have very little information about e-waste. Yet with all those benefits, where some
are as great as protecting and saving the lives of the informal recyclers from the hazardous components of
e-waste, this formalization will never be a reality unless the informal recyclers are motivated enough to start
formalizing. This motivation needs to come from only three things;
· Availability of the large volumes of e-waste that generate enough income to run a formal business
· Addressing the logistic costs of e-waste
· Charging for e-waste disposal like the solid waste disposal is charged for.

7. REFERENCES
Dr. Mathias Schluep (2010), E-waste management in developing countries with a focus on Africa, Cairo
WasteCon2008 (2008), The Durban Declaration on e-Waste Management in Africa, Durban, South Africa
EWASA (2008), E-waste assessment South Africa, South Africa
EWASA (2009), Technical guidelines on the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment, South Africa
UNEP (2009), Recycling – from E-waste to resources, Oktoberdruck AG, Berlin, Germany
Advanced tropical environment (ate) (2012), Identification of the magnitude of the electrical and electronic (e-
waste) situation in South Africa: a strategic approach to international chemicals management (saicm) e-
waste as an emerging policy issue, South Africa
Feng Wang (2010), Formalization of informal sectors in China, China
Department of Environmental Affairs (2012), National Waste Information Baseline
Report, South Africa.
Rolf Widmer & Ray Lombard (2005), e-Waste Assessment in South Africa:A case study of the Gauteng
province, South Africa

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B Yose WasteCon Paper_Formalisation of E-Waste Recycling;Making it a Reality

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B Yose WasteCon Paper_Formalisation of E-Waste Recycling;Making it a Reality