Adrian Clews, centre
Nigeria’s new e-waste recycling facility has begun training workers in the informal sector, including scrap dealers and scavengers, in the processing of e-waste.
Last month, The Recycler reported on the opening of Nigeria’s first dedicated e-waste recycling facility, located in Lagos state and managed by Hinckley Recycling.
Now, as TheGuardian reveals, Hinckley Recycling “has begun training of the informal sector, especially scavengers, in the process of handling e-waste.” Working in collaboration with the Association of Vendors for Used Electronic and Allied Products, the recycling facility recently enrolled its first batch of scavengers in a one-week training process which included “practical training on methods to dismantle and handle e-waste”.
This training is a necessity, as Hinckley Group Managing Director Adrian Clews explained, with Clews saying that “hazardous fractions common in e-waste include mercury, lead and cadmium, all of which can be fatal to human health”, meaning that “these hazardous fractions need to be extracted and related responsibly by a formal recycler.”
To assist the facility with its quest to responsibly manage Nigeria’s e-waste, Hinckley is collaborating with OEMs to ensure that “these unwanted, non-working or obsolete products […] are properly managed.”
Clews also revealed that “blood tests are being carried out on some of the scavengers to ascertain if their dealings with dangerous chemicals have health implications.”
In addition, he urged government agencies “to provide a control on the informal sector and develop the framework for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Nigeria.”
