South Africa has close to 60 000 waste pickers who play a substantial role in the country’s waste management industry. As part of the country’s informal waste sector, they help recover recyclables from household waste streams, as well as waste materials sent to landfill sites. With the country in a national lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, these waste reclaimers … [Read more...]
Defusing Southeast Asia’s e-waste timebomb
In a busy road-side shop in Cambodia’s capital city Phnom Penh, 19-year-old Pich plies a dangerous but lucrative trade. Amid mountains of computers, televisions, DVD players, mobile phones, and cables, Pich runs a mini-garage of about 1,000 square foot that processes about three tonnes of electronic waste a day. Reusable or recyclable materials are sold off, and the … [Read more...]
