The 2021 edition of the ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue has been slated to hold in Lagos.
The editor-in-chief, ITREALMS Media group and organisers of the event, Mr. Remmy Nweke disclosed that the event which will hold at Adam’s Hall, Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos by 9am, has become necessary due to the importance of tackling electronic waste as the country attained 20 years of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), an unarguable source of electronic devices and usage in Nigeria.
Nweke pointed that the Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) emanates from the likes of mobile phones, computers, TV-sets, and fridges among other electronic devices have become a set of fastest growing waste streams across the globe.
This is coming as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) and E-Waste Producer Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON) among other members of stakeholder community, are warming up for the dialogue on December 9, 2021.
Nigeria, Nweke noted, is particularly burdened by the WEEE with estimated 1.1 million tonnes of e-waste annually arising from both local and imported Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) under the guise of second hand or fairly used.
The editor-in-chief of ITREALMS Media, organisers of the E-Waste Dialogue cited a recent UNEP report which showed that in 2015 alone, Nigeria had 56,000 tonnes of imported e-waste; in 2017, this figure increased to 288,000 tonnes; over four times higher than two years earlier.
These, he said underscored the need for a massive and sustained campaign in Nigeria, on e-waste and its likely effects when disposed wrongly.
According to him, experts have been assembled to give a roadmap on “e-Waste in Nigeria: Consumer as key to circular economy” with focus on 20 years of GSM.
“ITREALMS Media in commemoration of the International E-waste Day (IeWD) 2021, is hosting a day discourse on e-Waste in Nigeria: Consumer as key to Circular Economy & 20 years of GSM” under its flagship ITREALMS e-Waste Dialogue scheduled for Thursday, December 9, at the Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos,” he said.
Stressing the importance of raising awareness and exchanging knowledge of this complex waste stream, Nweke said it would provoke thought and support the transition to a sustainable society and circular economy as the nation looks forward to the full implementation of the fifth-generation (5G) networks.
