With used cell phones, microwaves, and computers among the many electronic gadgets spreading like wildfire across the world, the question of how to ensure these items are disposed of in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner is an ever more pertinent one. In South Africa, several people are suggesting that a “green fee” be added to the price of electronic items such as new and old cell phones.
Keith Anderson, the chairman of the E-Waste Association of SA (eWasa), is one of those people. Anderson believes that a fee would be able to help cover the cost of recycling the items, and the amount of money that the fee should be would alter with differing items depending on how expensive each was to recycle. The E-Waste Association of SA has entered into a partnership with the Industrial Development Corp to create a plant that will be capable of recycling the new kind of supposedly energy saving light bulbs, which for all their supposed green credentials still contain mercury. Anderson says he hopes to one day be able to have an “eco park” located in Wadeville in Gauteng, which would include a recycling facility for cathode ray tube monitors and a plant for recycling print cartridges.
Anderson also says that should the idea of the “green fee” come to fruition, it would create many new jobs at eWasa.
Green Fee for Used Cell Phones in South Africa
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