working group 10: environment & e-waste report to eaco assembly of regulators a presentation...
TRANSCRIPT
WORKING GROUP 10: ENVIRONMENT & E-WASTE
REPORT TO EACO ASSEMBLY OF REGULATORS
A presentation made to the Assembly of Regulators
Sheraton Hotel
Kampala, Uganda
22nd – 23rd June 2015
By: Juma Ooro - Chairperson
Members
1. Juma Ooro Chairperson CA KENYA
2. Nakiguli Helen Cynthia Vice-Chairperson UCC UGANDA
3. Erasmo A. Mbilinyi 1st Rapporteur TCRA TANZANIA
4. Anita Hodari Batamuliza 2nd Rapporteur RURA RWANDA
5. James Kivuitu Member KBC KENYA
6. Didace Ndivyariye Member ARCT BURUNDI
7. Alexis Sinarinzi Member ARCT BURUNDI
8. Florentin Girukwishaka Member ARCT BURUNDI
9. Nehemia Mwenisongole Member TCRATANZANIA
10. Raynold Mfungahema Member TCRA TANZANIA
11. Virginia Onyara Member MMU KENYA
12. Hermenegilde Ntahomvukiye Liaison Manager/HR EACO Sectr.
13. Godliving Kessy Liaison Manager/Reg. EACO Sectr.
Outline
IntroductionMeetingsTerms of ReferenceAction PlanStatus of E-wasteModel FrameworkGreen ICTs & Environment International and Regional activitiesAwarenessPrivate E-waste initiativesRecommendations
What does it look like?
Some e-waste from digital migration!
Background
Challenges ICT industry is a major generator of e-waste Non-existence of coordinated and specific policies/laws
to guide sustainable and e-waste management. Lack of adequate statistics relating to e-waste including
quantities generated. Low awareness levels regarding generation, impacts
and management of e-waste. No infrastructure/facility available for the disposal of
the hazardous fraction from e-waste
Meetings
• The Working Group held 5 physical meetings in the two years cycle: 25 – 27 Nov 2013, 5 – 7 March 2014,16 – 17 June 2014, Nov 2014 and April 2015. The Working Group also had numerous online discussions within the same period. The deliberations of these meetings can be found in the detailed reports already submitted to the Secretariat.
• The summary reports of these meetings were also submitted to EXCOM through EACO Secretariat.
Terms of Reference
As adopted in the 20th Congress• To analyse the level of e-waste in the region and its impact on humans and
the environment.• To harmonize policies, strategies and regulations on e-waste management
in the region. • To recommend adoption of green ICT best practices by stakeholders in the
communications sector.• To recommend national and regional environmentally sound e-waste
management systems for the EAC region.• To develop strategies for public awareness on issues relating to e-waste.• To recommend strategies for collaboration/cooperation between National
ICT Regulators, National Environmental Management Authorities and other environmental management Agencies with a view to establishing and strengthening the e-waste management systems within the region.
Revised Terms of Reference
The group studied the terms as provided by the 20th Congress and proposed
Changes which were endorsed by the EXCOM and adopted by the 21st
Assembly of Regulators as below: To assess management of e-waste and its impacts on the environment in the region; To review and identify drawbacks in the existing policies, strategies, laws,
regulations and guidelines on e-waste management in the region and recommend for their harmonization;
To Identify and recommend adoption of green ICTs best practices in the region; To coordinate and follow up the work of the relevant ITU Study Group (s) and
facilitate the development of regional recommendations or contributions relating to the work of those Study Group(s) or other relevant international and regional organizations.
To create public awareness and capacity building on e-waste management and Green ICT in the region
Follow-up on work of the EAC Sectoral Committee for Communications Transport & Meteorology
Request on ToR
• The recommendation of the Assembly of Regulators for WG10 to consider expanding the scope to include Electromagnetic effects was deliberated. It was concluded that the WG has limited resources (time, human and facilitation) to handle this activity. However, the WG will consider liaising with other relevant WGs (including WG9 and 11) to progress this matter in the next cycle.
• The recommendation of the Assembly of Regulators for WG10 to consider sensitive data traces in the memory components of electronic devices that are redisposed was noted. WG10 deliberated and concluded that this issue will be incorporated in its awareness program.
Action PlanThe group formulated the action plan for the 2 years working cycle as in attached report.
The group discussed and agreed on the Action Plan for the two years cycle. The Action
Plan as agreed by the group is presented as Annex IV. The WG still has some items to
progress in the action plan and will therefore review the same for the next two year cycle
Highlights of Activities Update Member status on e-waste management Compilation of Member states status on e-waste management Review Model Framework on E-Waste Management To study and identify international best practices on green ICTs To participate in ITU-T SG 5 and ITU D SG 1 & 2 activities In collaboration with HR committee enhance capacity building on Green ICT and e – waste management Visiting e-Waste Management initiatives in the region and beyond To participate in ATU and other regional organisations and submit relevant recommendations to the group To consult stakeholders through workshops and other forums on e-waste management situation in the
region To develop strategy for dissemination of information on environment and e-waste management through
media
Country status on e-waste management
•Members updated the status of e-waste and its management with respect to statistics, quantities/volumes, initiatives, policies and regulations in their respective countries. •It was noted that the region has no reliable and comprehensive data on e-waste management.
Country status…
• The e-waste management action plan has recognized this as one of its action items and maintains that this will be done by individual countries. The EACO Secretariat will send formal letters to regulators on the decision of the 21st Assembly that the e-waste survey needs to be conducted by individual countries. For uniformity the Terms of References (ToR) should be attached to those letters.
• Benchmark with e-waste stakeholders. During the e-waste management workshop in Nairobi in March 2015 the WG visited two Recycling plants (WEEE Centre and EACR facility) and appreciated the recycling processes which could be adopted in the region.
Dissemination of EACO Model Framework on E-Waste Management
o The WG shared the model framework with participants at the e-waste workshop in Nairobi. The model framework is intended to guide the member countries in developing and implementing their specific e-waste management system. The model is also available at the EACO website.
o The WG requested the EACO Secretariat to share the model with EAC. However it was noted that the model has not been shared.
Green ICTs & Environment
• Review of Best International Practices on Green ICTs
• The WG developed a concept paper on ICTs, Sustainability and Green economy. The concept paper provided an insight on what the working group was to consider as activities in relation to Green ICT. This concept paper was adopted in the 21st Assembly of Regulators, in June 2014, Arusha, Tanzania.
• Consequently the WG has developed a draft zero information paper on guidance on greening the EACO member organisations. This information paper provides guidance (illustrates the vision) of how the ICT industry/sector in the East African Region can green their organisations services, operations and products; with priority beginning with the EACO members (organisations/administrations). This is still work in progress and will be shared later.
Capacity building on Green ICTs and E – waste management
• The WG identified the knowledge gap in Green ICT and e-waste management and indicated the need for additional capacity building for both the WG members and the relevant stakeholders.
• However, the secretariat indicated the challenge of identifying the relatively affordable facilitator for e-waste management and an expert in the field of green ICT. Also, due to other demanding activities during the period (such as the organization of the sustainable e-waste management workshop and action plan workshop), the program could not be conducted.
• EACO secretariat is still scouting for affordable experts in e-waste management in the region. The training is thus planned to be held in November 2015 in Burundi.
• Regarding capacity building in Green ICT, it is proposed that members gain capacity through attending regional and international fora on Green ICTs or benchmarking on countries success stories and best practices such as ITU-T Green Standard Week.
E-waste management Awareness
• EACO held a successful workshop on Sustainable e-waste management in the East African region from 18th to 20th March 2015, in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop was attended by over one hundred participants including Governments, Policy makers, academia, research institutions, ICT and environmental regulators, ICT service providers, recyclers, private sector players, etc.
• This was followed by another workshop from 20th to 22nd April, 2015 in Kigali, Rwanda which formulated the action plan on e-waste management. The action plan recommend establishment of Steering Committees at both EACO and National level, which will monitor and evaluate the implementation of the action plan.
• The various reports can be found elsewhere.
• The WG will continue to organize similar workshops to enhance awareness.
• For the successful implementation of the action plan, the WG will require certain resources including financial support and therefore request EACO secretariat to consider providing such support.
• The WG request the Assembly to adopt the action plan and the establishment of the Steering Committees. The Assembly is also requested to forward this to Congress for approval.
Liaison Statements
The WG received a liaison statement from WG1 (Policy and Regulatory Harmonisation) requesting inputs into the Model ICT Policy. WG has responded to WG1 to this.
Participation/Contributions in International and Regional activities
It was noted that there is need for members of WG10 to continuously and actively participate and make contributions in International fora where environmental and e-waste management issues are discussed.
EACO Secretariat to co-ordinate and facilitate the WG contributions in such forums.
In the past cycle, WG members participated in various meetings including: ITU-T SG 5 & 12 in India and Geneva, Regional Group for Africa in Senegal, Green Standards Week in China.
Partnering with private E-waste initiatives
Role role of private sector in e-waste management activities is important. Thus it is important to involve them in WG activities.
The WG extended invitations to such organisations whenever the WG conducted its activities and it is noted with appreciation that some of them participated, notably WEEE Centre, EACR (both from Kenya) and Chilambo Traders (Tanzania).
The participation of academia was also noted.
Conclusion • The WG achieved a number of milestones during the two year cycle as
highlighted above. However, there were certain items in the action plans which were not completed due to various constraints. The WG is determined to progress the pending items in the next cycle.
• During the first cycle the WG encountered some challenges namely:-– Limited experts in the region on the subject matter of Green ICT and e-waste– The few experts available were not affordable– Time constraints– Lack of participation of private sector players in WG10 meetings.– Lack of consistency in participation for some members in the WG meetings
Next Meeting
The WG proposed to hold its next meeting in November 2015, in Burundi
Recommendations
The Assembly of Regulators is requested to note and adopt the report.
The WG10 request that the revised ToR be presented to the Congress for approval.
Approve Action Plan and seek Congress endorsement for further action in the next cycle.
The WG request the Assembly to adopt the e-waste management action plan and the establishment of the Steering Committees. The Assembly is also requested to forward this to Congress for approval.
EACO to engage the members to ensure consistent representation in the working groups
