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HP and UNESCO, together with a selection of high profile partners, have launched the first of two modules which make up a comprehensive recycling guide for entrepreneurs who want to make the most out of computer recycling. The first module , which is free online, was launched at a conference on Digital Solidarity held in Lyon in France in November.
The first module provides an introduction to important background information on recycling and discusses issues to be considered when setting up a recycling business. The second module, which will be published in due course, will focus on recycling practices and will provide concrete, practical advice for entrepreneurs.
Growing concern
Publication of the first module comes at a time when there is growing concern about the impact that computer waste has and will continue to have on health and the environment. Countries around the globe are rapidly gaining increased access to information technology, spurred on in part by surging domestic economies and the recognition by consumers of the benefits of access to information and global communication.
Annual global mobile phone sales first topped one billion in 2006 and are likely to have done so again last year. More than one billion PCs will have been in use worldwide last year and, over the next five years, this figure is expect to increase to two billion. According to a study by Forrester Research Inc., Brazil, Russia, India and China will have more than 775 million new PCs by 2015, with China going from 55 million in 2007 to 500 million by 2015.
Supporting new business opportunities
The purpose of the guide, therefore, is to help entrepreneurs develop the skills required to handle the growing amount of waste generated by this influx of technology. It also aims to support the emergence of new business opportunities by helping NGOs and local development stakeholders to foster small and micro-entrepreneurships in computer recycling.
Once complete, the guide will provide local entrepreneurs with a blueprint for establishing a business capable of receiving used PCs and related equipment. Published in English and French, it will give guidance on how to manage such equipment in a profitable and environmentally sound manner, whilst ensuring health and safety amongst workers.
It will contain a full inventory of waste recycling processes, practical advice and case studies from recycling plants in Burkina Faso in West Africa, France and India and will hold an open license so that interested parties can create and adapt their own versions of the guide for local use.
The additional partners who contributed to the project are the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), French Consultants Tic Ethic, two non-governmental organisations Emmaus Solidarite Ouagadougou and Ateliers du Bocage, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
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