Nigeria will soon get a boost in the electronic waste (e-waste) sub-sector with the opening up of applications for establishment of some 30 collection centres nationwide.
Nigeria is opening-up the e-waste sub-industry in order to create more jobs.
The Executive Secretary, E-Waste Producer Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON), Mrs. Ibukun Faluyi, who made the disclosure during the 2020 ITREALMS e-Waste Dialogue held in Lagos, recently, said the application would be free for charge for all interested Nigerians.
Faluyi who spoke on sub-theme: ‘e-Waste in Nigeria and Opportunities in Recycling’, said EPRON as technical assistant for the initiative, would be offering the application for free which could be accessed on its website.
According to her, for now there is no application fee attached as part of the incentive to get more people, especially Nigerians involved.
At the end of the exercise to be conducted alongside the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), about 90 jobs will be created.
This number of jobs, she explained, was arrived at based on the fact that each of the collection centres would be expected to have at least three staff to man its operations.
The e-Waste dialogue received backing from stakeholders in the digital space, including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Association of Licensed Telecom Operations of Nigeria (ALTON) and Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN).
Publisher of ITREALMS Media, organisers of the e-Waste Dialogue, Mr. Remmy Nweke, said the theme, ‘e-Waste in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities,’ would afford Nigerians the opportunity to address the challenges posed by e-Waste in Nigeria.
According to Nweke, “The e-Waste Dialogue was initially scheduled for October 14 but due to COVID-19 lockdown and #EndSARS protest nationwide, it had to be rescheduled and held this December as part of the Nigeria Internet Waste Dialogue.
“There have been concerns over the waste associated with the electrical and electronic equipment originating from the likes of mobile phones, computers, TV-sets, and fridges, with a current burden in excess of 1.1 million tonnes of e-waste accumulating annually from both local and imported Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE).”
The e-Waste Dialogue supports the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) organised “Internet Waste Dialogue” in commemoration of the annual International e-Waste Day (IeWD), Nweke said.
