Management Systems of 3R and Sustainability of E-waste management in Kisumu City, Kenya

In spite of the increased use of electronic gadgets which has proportionately increased the accumulation of e-waste, E-waste in Kisumu is informally managed and it is not known whether the informal management of e-waste is sustainable. The purpose of this study was to establish management systems of 3R on sustainability of e-waste management in Kisumu City, Kenya. The research adopted a descriptive survey design and data collected using questionnaires, interview, Focus Group Discussions and observation from a sample size of 425 respondents out of a target population of 148,494 households while analysis involved descriptive statistics. The study concludes that the current e-waste management is not sustainable because: there is no monitoring of the volumes of e-waste generated making it difficult to plan for its disposal, there is a high turnover of e waste at the rate of 78% within 5 years without a corresponding mechanism for reducing, recycling and reusing, policy formulation and enforcement by relevant government ministries remains weak and investors and NGOs are unwilling to invest in this area due to expensive capital infrastructure and technology inadequacy. The study recommends that NEMA e-waste management guideline 2010 should be enforced to ensure proper reduce, reuse, recycling and disposal besides amendments to Public Health Act (1962), Urban Areas and Cities Act No.13 of 2011 (Cap. 265) to comply with the NEMA guideline. MIC should enforce their requirement for Extended Producer Responsibility on ICT Actors. The relevant ministries and the civil society need to create awareness of e-waste and its safe handling. NEMA and the County Government should offer incentives to interested investors. KEBS should train expertise in forensic audit of hazardous components included in electronic equipment’s and discourage importation of such substances.