Practices of E-Waste management among people living in African Cities: The case of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
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Date
2025
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Gate
Abstract
Rapid turnover in technology across the cities of the world creates a rapidly
growing e-waste stream. This is the case for the city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Currently, the city lacks the capacity for handling and recycling
the hazardous materials contained in e-waste. Further, Tanzania has neither a specific policy nor a law on e-waste management. The paper focuses on
e-waste management practices in Dar es Salaam. The key question is what are the practices of stakeholders in e-waste management in the city? This study was conducted in Ilala and Temeke municipalities in the city Participants for the study were purposively selected. The selection ensured the representation of key stakeholders in e-waste generation and
management. The number of participants for key stakeholders was
determined by the data saturation point, a point where no new information
was obtained. To gain an in-depth understanding, several ethnographic
methods were employed. Based, on the study findings, some of the practices
on e-waste management in the city of Dar es Salaam include: storing e-
waste, landfilling, reusing, selling, and recycling. Overall, the practices of
e-waste management in the city of Dar es Salaam remain informal and hence
lack any operational legal framework. Although the existing legal
framework for the management of e-waste has the potential for
operationalization, it has no clear guidelines or procedures. The authors are
aware that the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) has developed
operational standards for e-waste management. However, the operational
standards remain inaccessible to other key Government entities, the public
and other key stakeholders. One, including Government agencies, must pay
to access them. The authors strongly recommend that the standards should
be made available free of charge and be operationalized at all levels. The
authors further recommend the development of suitable frameworks to deal with the management of e-waste, recycling, and circular economy.
Description
East African Journal of Environment and Natural Resources pp. 73-88
Keywords
Management of e-waste, Africa, Practices, Cities, Tanzania
Citation
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/392339032