FILE - In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 18, 2014, workers unload and sort through a container full of electronic waste that was collected from a Nairobi slum and brought in for recycling, at the East African Compliant Recycling facility in Machakos, near Nairobi, in Kenya. U.N. agencies warn that electrical waste — everything from discarded refrigerators to TVs to e-scooters to mobile phones — is piling up worldwide, and recycling rates are low and likely to fall even further.
They said some of the discarded electronic devices contained hazardous elements like mercury, as well as rare Earth metals coveted by tech industry manufacturers. Currently, only 1% of the demand for the 17 minerals that make up the rare metals is met through recycling. “The latest research shows that the global challenge posed by e-waste is only going to grow,” said Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, head of the ITU telecommunication development bureau. “With less than half of the world implementing and enforcing approaches to manage the problem, this raises the alarm for sound regulations to boost collection and recycling.”
However, Okoth said they don’t have any other options: “We are now used to the smoke because if you don’t go to work you will not eat.”