Pick n Pay, which is among the largest retail chains in South Africa, has further expanded its e-waste management program to all parts of Cape Town, addressing a potential environmental hazard through electronic waste collection, while simultaneously offering much-needed job opportunities to the differently able. The initiative, together with EWaste Africa, the E-Waste Recycling Authority, and the National Economic Empowerment for the Disabled, will make good use of this bulk of electronic waste, therefore becoming a sustainable solution to the problem of e-waste in the city.
New Dustbins Will Be Placed Around the City
As a part of this program, Pick n Pay has organized the roll-out of the larger e-waste bins in selected stores in various places in Cape Town. The bins are able to accept e-waste items of various sizes and shapes, which include small items like mobile phones, cables, and kettles and even include appliances like washing machine. The bins are a completely new initiative for Pick n Pay, another level of what it has been doing for more than 15 years – the e-waste program. Earlier efforts were linked with light bulbs and batteries specifically.
That consists of 33 e-waste bins already fixed in different outlets, with a planned extra 90 prior to the year-end. This will bring the overall 210 bins in the country by mid-2025, with around 1,000 tonnes of e-waste holding every year, filled an amount equal to the size of a large cargo ship.
Emphasize on Job Creation and Special Training for Differently Abled
One of the greatest contributions of it is to create job opportunities, particularly for people with disabilities. In fact, enterprise development, spearheaded by NEED (National Economic Empowerment for the Disabled), imparts dismantling and repairing the collected electronic wastes among the participants. Thereafter, they refurbish the materials. In fact, this initiative means to be a double benefit with regard to the environment. Besides saving the environment from further contamination, this project has assured job opportunities for those sections of society who, otherwise, would find it excruciating to get work.
Currently operating from the Cape Town Association for the Physically Disabled in Bridgetown, the pilot has trained 65 individuals who are involved in the dismantling and refurbishment of e-waste. These youths are educated on the manual dismantling and refurbishment of e-waste material that would be part of a dream circular economy—where electronic items are given another life besides being thrown into a landfill. Any disproportionate items are sent to ERA-affiliated service providers, where valuable materials are retrieved and reconstituted.
Administering the E-waste Collection Process
EWaste Africa collects e-waste for delivery to licensed recycling facilities, which process the e-waste in order to transform it into other materials. One example is that old electronic devices can be transformed into housing blocks. Dismantling of the e-waste manually by both ERA and EWaste Africa provides a unique opportunity for job creation. This ensures sustainable job creation under the programme and puts an emphasis on manual labor, thereby making this work possible for the differently abled in the long term.
Because the program sells repaired and refurbished items, it becomes more self-sustaining. Importantly, no e-waste treated through this program ends up in landfills, underlining more the environmental benefit of the program.
Addressing the Environmental Problem from E-Waste
That includes some hazardous substances, such as lead and lithium – they are extremely dangerous in case of their inappropriate disposal. Low recycling rates of e-waste contribute to the wastage of recoverable/reusable valuable resources, and improper e-waste disposal contaminates the environment. Therefore, with its current expansion in e-waste collection and recycling programs, Pick n Pay is rendering service to that bigger cause in effect, conserving natural resources and minimizing the environmental impact of electronic waste.
Future Digital Expansion and Effect
In a country where 7% of the population has some kind of physical disability, job availability is critical. This program will only be expanded further as associate e-waste bins are placed in Pick n Pay stores across the nation. This will not only help South Africa in managing the expanding e-waste but will also provide the country with the most needed job opportunities that the country battles with high levels of unemployment.
This is one more stride in the bid toward sustainability and community development by Pick n Pay to provide a convenient way for customers to dispose of their old electronic products in a responsible manner. By the very fact of doing its business, Pick n Pay is already taking responsibility toward reducing the environmental impact caused by e-waste, enhancing local recycling infrastructure, and supporting job creation for disabled persons through its partnerships with organizations like EWaste Africa, ERA, and NEED.
Source: Pick n Pay