A coalition of not-for-profit and government organizations has opened an electronics recycling facility in Embakasi, Kenya, that is being billed as the first of its kind in East Africa.
Computers for Schools Kenya (CFSK) is managing the facility in a project that also involves cooperation with the Nairobi City Council and private companies in the area, according to a news item from the Computerworld Africa Web site.
The new facility will dismantle and separate electronic scrap initially from within Kenya and potentially will accept material from the neighboring nations of Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi as well.
CFSK CEO Tom Musili is quoted as saying that workers will be trained to safely handle and separate metals such as aluminum and copper, which can be recycled at facilities within Africa while circuit boards will be shipped to smelting facilities in Europe and Asia.
Musili also says that arrangements have been made to ship monitors to the not-for-profit organization Fair International in Norway.
According to the Computerworld Africa item, Musili is preparing to visit companies in the U.S. to observe how they handle the recycling of components and monitors and put into place similar practices at the Embakasi plant.
CFSK has already been involved in re-deploying CRT (cathode ray tube) computer monitors as affordable television sets, according to Computerworld Africa.