The Gauteng Department of e-Government (e-Gov) is tackling the province's mounting e-waste that is on the brink of destroying the environment. e-Waste is the disposal of electrical and electronic gadgets and home appliances such as computers, cellphones, fridges, televisions, office printers, microwaves etc. The disposal of these unwanted or unused items impose a serious threat to the environment and human health especially when disposed 'anywhere and anyhow'. 
It has been noted significantly that in Gauteng, e-waste lacks the necessary and sufficient facilities and means to adequately dispose all these electrical and electronic items. 
Many people are unaware that the improper disposal of such gadgets and appliances is toxic and has dire effects. This means when e-waste gets buried underground, the toxins can leak into the earth and damage the soil and water in the area. This then pollutes the planet and harm the health of human beings, animals, ecosystems, and water sources.
Gauteng MEC for Finance and e-Government, Ms. Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko who is leading the e-Waste programme at the department of eGovernment, on behalf of the provincial government said that the challenges of e-waste are caused by several factors that include lack of awareness or knowledge about e-waste recycling, lack of recycling facilities and a general disinterest in recycling. 
"The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) is fully cognisant of this fact and had to seriously reflect on how to manage the mountains of e-waste generated in the province. This has led us into taking a proactive approach to this matter by developing an e-Waste Management Strategy. This strategy was developed to assist us in finding new and innovative ways to address the challenge posed by the unsafe disposal, reuse and recycling of electronic waste. Through the implementation of this strategy, the idea is to put measures in place to ensure that the growing amount of e-waste is disposed of, recycled or re-purposed for a clean, healthy and safe environment, Nkomo-Ralehoko said.
Gauteng is regarded as 'the economic hub of the South African economy' due to the various industrial economic activities that take place in the province. This has, however, resulted in the accumulation of e-waste, caused by the high use of technological products, i.e., home appliances, mobile phones, computers etc. South Africa experiences about 360,000 tons of e-waste each year and Gauteng accounts for about 55% of the national e-waste quantities.  
Nkomo-Ralehoko said, a lack of proper e-waste management system could result in drastic harmful effects on human lives and the environment. The e-waste management system has therefore been established to help address the challenges of poorly coordinated e-waste management in the province. Apart from helping in educating Gauteng residents on issues of e-waste, the project will also instill a culture of recycling electronics. It is being implemented as a solution to help improve the collection, recycling, and safe disposal of e-waste in the province. 
"Through this project, GPG aims to achieve a sustainable e-waste management solution that will ensure a clean, healthy and safe environment. The system will also assist in inspiring creativity amongst the youth, to be able to recycle and create something meaningful from discarded gadgets. This will further assist in stimulating the economy through SMME support and job creation." 
The Premier of Gauteng, Honourable David Makhura, launched the e-Waste Management System and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Johannesburg (UJ) who are partnering with Gauteng Government in implementing the system. The Gauteng Provincial Government has placed e-waste management at the top of its agenda because of the socio-economic benefits that are brought by the programme. These benefits include the opportunity to create employment especially for the youth and cleaning the environment for the safety of Gauteng residents. 
Addressing the launch, Premier Makhura said it was a proud moment to witness the launch of e-waste management for the province which responds directly to the ever-increasing volumes of e-waste. "This launch is aimed at addressing both the mounting e-waste and the stubborn unemployment crisis. The e-waste management strategy and partnership with UJ creates an ecosystem to discard, recycle or donate e-Waste products in a manner that creates small businesses and job opportunities for the youth," said Makhura 
The Premier added that this was a paradox. As cities and urban regions were experiencing the benefits of technology, there was however a mounting problem of e-waste management and e-waste disposal. This the premier was referring to the idea that as the country embraces technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there has been lack of a strategy that aims to manage the disposal of these technological products once they reach their life span. 
"As a result of the rapid pace of technological change, the management of e-waste that is, the disposal and recycling of electronic gadgets and electrical equipment, has become a world-wide environmental concern that requires a coordinated response and productive partnerships," he said.
Professor Saurab Sinha, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Internationalisation, at UJ said that the rapid pace of the fourth industrial revolution has compelled all sectors of society to consider novel solutions to current problems. Among other issues, South Africa and Africa as a whole, are confronted with massive mountaintops of unused electronic devices, most notably computers (which are either stored, dumped, or imported), as well as tumultuous electrical and e-Waste that is growing at an exponential rate – much faster than Africa's contemporary ICT challenges. 
"The collaboration between e-Gov and the University of Johannesburg represents a coming together of minds to implement a system that will create an enabling environment that unlocks the potential of e-waste for South Africa by allowing for an equitable profit distribution across the value chain and allowing for participation in public-private partnerships by SMMEs and the informal sector. In addition to ensuring a clean, healthy, and safe environment, the system will also stimulate the economy through supporting SMME's and job development, allowing it to be implemented".  
The Gauteng Province faces many challenges regarding e-waste management. These include the lack of a formal system to manage e-waste; unsound practices and dumping of e-waste onto landfills, South Africa's stringent legislative landscape, lack of specific e-waste legislation; and lack of data and research. As a result, e-waste recycling in not properly coordinated. 
Head of Department of the Gauteng Department of e-Government, Mr. Cyril Baloyi expressed that the uncoordinated dumping of e-waste in the province causes a much bigger problem. 
"For an example in downtown Johannesburg at End Street, you find loads of old electronic equipment placed next to the side of the road. These are collected daily from different locations and dumped there. The pickers dismantle them and remove the material they need to sell as scrap. Now the issue is that the pickers leave the rest of the material laying on the roadside and we are still not dealing with the overall problem of e-waste. Hence the launch of the e-waste Management System which will coordinate this process so that our environment is clean, we provide employment and create a sustainable value chain for e-waste management", Baloyi said.
Over and above warranting for effective e-waste management, the system also aims to stimulate the economy through SMME support and job creation. It presents opportunities to various sectors and business enterprises, including green job creation, recovery of valuable materials and environmental protection.
"Our strategy focuses on the minimisation of environmental degradation, stimulation of economic development and job creation. In this manner, we aim to also enhance public participation, public education, establish partnerships as well as improve the governance and regulatory precepts of the environment" Baloyi added.   
The Global e-waste Monitor 2020 report found that the world dumped a record of 53.6 million tons of e-waste last year. Just 17.4% was recycled. "Even countries with a formal e-waste management system in place are confronted with relatively low collection and recycling rates," said the report.
China, with 10.1 million tons, was the biggest contributor to e-waste, and the United States was second with 6.9 million tons. India, with 3.2 million tons, was third. Together these three countries accounted for nearly 38% of the world's e-waste last year. 
Due to the advancement in technology, this has sparked a huge increase in the number of electronic equipment that are in circulation in our environment. In the last decade, we have seen an increase in the number of mobile devices. Furthermore, the rate at which technological advancements are taking place, suggest that newer versions of devices enter our markets more frequent than ever before. Older devices are rendered obsolete much quicker and find themselves in our rubbish bins.  This is a huge hazard to our health. 
Rapid innovation, and constant production of technology, have dramatically increased our access to electric and electronic products.  The access to these products have arguably created a sense of reliance on technology, which indicates that e-waste is the world's fastest-growing waste stream.  
It is recorded that in January 2022, the number of phone users in the world was estimated to be 7.26 billion which translates to 91.69% of the world's population. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)'s report on State of the ICT sector 2021 reveals that South Africa's smartphone penetration is now over 80%. This means in mobile devices alone, we have a surplus of old devices that are laying around everywhere.
"If we have so many people who own gadgets, what happens when they throw them away without any proper places being made available to manage e-waste. Even so, what happens to our environment, and how does this affect our economy? This is what we are then trying to solve as the Gauteng Provincial Government," Baloyi said.
The newly established e-waste management system by the Gauteng Provincial Government aims to recycle electronic and electrical waste by producing new and meaningful gadgets from the discarded waste. The e-waste management system aims to turn waste into value.