WEEE Centre brings its initiatives global through partnership with PANELTECH

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Centre (WEEE Centre) is partnering with waste solutions provider, PANELTECH.US Corp. to foster a circular economy together in Kenya in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17- Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Together, the partnership will merge on-the-ground experiences with tailored technological application and circular economy design to derive concrete solutions for urgent problem of e-waste. Through this exciting collaboration, both parties will work strongly side by side for synergistic outcomes, unlocking economic, social and environmental benefits.

Kenya generates over 51.3 thousand tons of electronic waste (e-waste) each year. Items such as old laptops and phones mostly end up wrongly disposed into the environment. WEEE Centre recycles these e-wastes with the core mission to also raise awareness on environment-friendly and safe ways of electronic waste (e-waste) disposal.

Over the years, WEEE has trained 630 small business owners in the informal sector on how to repair, maintain, store, transport and handle electronics. The trained businesses partner with the WEEE Centre on e-waste management in the various regions across the country. The industries they serve bridges diverse stakeholders, from small to large enterprises, foundations and NGOs to governments entities.

PANELTECH.US offers broad range of technical solutions in support of WEEE Centre’s existing structure, these include technological improvements, channel partner connections and additional resources. PANELTECH.US shall direct these resources towards WEEE’s educational projects, to expand on its community influence.

Efforts will be maximized through resource integration, effective communication and smart applications. In addition, the partnership not only strives to combat waste and pollution problems in Kenya, but PANELTECH.US also makes possible Computers for Schools Kenya’s (CFSK) vision to increase the number of computers for all schools, to establish an information-rich Kenyan society.

This project allows active participation of youths and women in developing their computer skillsets, enhancing long-lasting empowerment. With access to technical education and teaching programs in the area of waste repurposing, general livelihoods can be drastically improved sustainably.

To design effective circularity within the system, the partners aim to repurpose different waste streams into green materials and create innovative recycling methods through material recovery to achieve 100% circularity. We will work together to attain a sustainable, green and safe environment for e-waste management services.

This will establish a new green industry within Kenya, which will then create hundreds of job opportunities and foster community entrepreneurships. PANELTECH.US will also raise overseas awareness of all green projects in Kenya with WEEE Centre. The partnership aims to utilize existing broad network of WEEE.

Centre, for example, in Uganda and Tanzania where the WEEE Centre holds stakes and shares. WEEE also has strong connections across Africa. Both parties will bring important stakeholders and decision-makers to the table for the urgent pursuit of safe e-waste management, leading towards a greener Africa.

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” – Robert Swan OBE, the first man in history to walk to both the North and South Poles.