Philips, the Dutch electronics supplier, wants to reduce the environmental impact of its activities through sustainable waste management. Africa will also benefit from this approach, which is supported by Closing the Loop and TCO Development.
The new sustainable e-waste management project was unveiled on September 30th, 2021 by MMD-Monitors&Displays Holding B.V. (MMD), a display specialist and brand licensing partner for Philips monitors. Through this initiative, the French electronics supplier wants to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills worldwide, and in Africa. “A significant number of used Philips brand monitors are shipped to the continent for second-hand use. Most of the e-waste that comes out is not properly recycled due to the lack of proper facilities and resources,” MMD acknowledges. Yet this waste is a hazard to both human and environmental health.
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To achieve its goal, Philips enlisted the expertise of Closing the Loop (CTL), which works with local partners to collect used devices and recycle them safely, and TCO Development, the organization behind the world’s leading IT sustainability certification, TCO Certified. The first project to come out of this collaboration is “ECoN” which allows Philips monitors “to support CTL and the coalition of international partners such as the research institute Öko-Institute e.V. and local Nigerian partners Verde Impacto, Hinckley Recycling and SRADev in expanding a proven waste offset system to include monitor waste and extend the TCO Certified Edge, E-waste compensated certification,” MMD says. Over the past eight years, CTL has collected and recycled more than 3 million cell phones, creating more than 2,000 jobs in the waste sector. This amount is expected to increase with this new partnership.
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The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is funding Philips’ sustainable e-waste management through the Prevent Waste Alliance. This platform for international exchange and cooperation aims to reduce the proliferation of waste, eliminate pollutants and maximize the reuse of resources. The alliance funds seven other sustainable waste management pilot projects around the world. According to a report by the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (Pace) and the United Nations Coalition against E-waste, about 50 million tons of e-waste are produced each year.
Inès Magoum
