E-waste in Gaborone, Botswana – assessing the generation, handling practices, and strategies for improvement

E-waste includes components with economic and environmental importance, thus the need for their sound end-of-life management. This study provides fundamentals regarding the amounts, flows, and handling practices of e-waste in Gaborone, Botswana. A number of relevant stakeholder organisations were interviewed and an in situ waste composition study was conducted. The concentration of e-waste arriving at the municipal landfill is less than 1 weight per cent, corresponding to about 1.9 kg/capita/year, far less compared to the estimated 8 weight per cent for European Union countries. However, obsolete electr(on)ics are in urban storages primarily due to a lack of tapping mechanisms. Among several inadequacies of the current handling practices is the absence of an e-waste management framework. Improvement routes discussed include public sensitisation and engagement, capacity building, and future exploitation of potentially suitable end-of-life treatment options including the novel phenomenon of enhanced landfill mining.GTAR