projects

E-waste management and recycling

Completed
People sorting and recording electronic waste at a collection booth with wires, devices, and a weighing scale on a green table under a UNHCR sign.
Programme
UNHCR Innovation Incubator
Fund
Environment and Climate Action Innovation Fund | Incubator
Start Date
Total Project Cost
USD 100,176.000
Country
Bangladesh
Project Team
NGO Forum for Public Health , Br!ght , Schneider Electric , Electriciens Sans Frontiers , UNITAR

Challenge

Solar appliances and devices have been distributed or established across refugee settlements in Cox’s Bazar to meet energy and protection needs, but limited skills, maintenance issues, and sometimes quality-control limitations impact the equipment’s lifespan, creating e-waste.

Solution

UNHCR is developing a system for e-waste collection, value-chain analysis, recycling, and repurposing, by developing refugee skills to refurbish appliances and other products, and assessing a take-back scheme for recycling and potentially refurbishing solar appliances

Impact

Improved waste management to reduce negative environmental impact, creation of livelihood opportunities, and extended equipment lifespans. More than 40,000 people are expected to benefit, directly or indirectly, from the programme.

Project impact

4,253
households exchanged e-waste for vouchers
9,414
kg of e-waste collected & responsibly recycled
20
refugee volunteers supported collection

Other information

Through the project, training programmes on basic electrical repair and maintenance were developed for use in future work. As a result of this initiative, there has been a drastic reduction in the amount of e-waste disposed informally around the camp, suggesting early behavior change, particularly in unsafe practices around the disposal of cables, batteries, and parts.

The lessons learned from the pilot supported the design of a new approach to help reduce the amount of e-waste by developing the skills of refugees to manage repairs.
 
Upon completion, the project entered a second phase thanks to follow-up funding through the Environment and Climate Action Innovation Fund. The new initiative – Agents of Change: Energy Ambassadors for Solar Repair and Maintenance – aims to utilize the knowledge from the first phase and test circular models for continued and sustainable e-waste collection, repair, and redistribution.