Country Status
In 2022, Burundi generated 8 million kilograms of e-waste, which represents 0,6 kilograms of e-waste generated per capita. Burundi's National E-waste Policy is currently being approved and will be the first comprehensive national policy on e-waste in Burundi. It endorses the principle of extended producer responsibility and allocates clear roles and responsibilities to relevant stakeholders. A growing topic of discussion in East Africa is the growth and integration of e-waste collection and recycling infrastructure and networks and the harmonized incorporation of the extended producer responsibility (EPR) principle into national regulations. The discussion has been led at the regional level by the East African Communications Organisation (EACO), through the implementation of its Regional E-waste Management Strategy 2022-2027. In East Africa, regional harmonization could help overcome limitations to collection, sorting and high-end recycling. In this regard, the African Telecommunications Union has issued pan-African guidelines for the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector aimed at harmonizing approaches to e-waste.
- E-Waste Generated (million kg): 8
- E-Waste Generated (kg per capita): 0,6
- E-Waste Documented as Formally Collected and Recycled: N/A
- E-Waste Policy, Legislation or Regulation: No
- EPR on E-Waste: No
- Collection Target in Place: No
- Recycling Target in Place: No
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ITU and E-waste in Burundi
ITU has been providing assistance to the Ministère de la Communication, des Technologies de l'Information et des Médias (MCTIM) and to the Agence de Régulation et de Contrôle des Télécommunications (ARCT) on strengthening the national capacity on e-waste data and on developing the country's first comprehensive draft national e-waste management policy.
- ITU – UNITAR-SCYCLE (2021 – 2023)
In collaboration with the EACO, ITU and the UNITAR-SCYCLE Programme provided technical assistance to EACO member states through an e-waste data harmonization project. The project supports the relevant strategic actions of the EACO Regional E-waste Strategy, notably to track progress and its achievement and to harmonize the collection of e-waste data regionally. This will eventually result in a central database on e-waste within the EACO secretariat. The project focused on the following key activities: harmonized surveys for households and businesses, inception training to support national statistics bodies to collect and improve e-waste data and statistics, regional trial of the household and business surveys, validation training through comparing and learning from preliminary results, publication of an East Africa E-waste Baseline Study.
- ITU (2021 – 2022)
ITU, in collaboration with the MCTIM and ARCT has provided support to the Government in developing a national e-waste policy for Burundi - Politique Nationale de Gestion des Déchets d’Equipements Electriques et Electroniques au Burundi. A series of national consultations were held in 2021, including both public and private sector, to define strategies relating to the roles, duties and responsibilities of actors involved in the e-waste value chain. A preliminary draft of the national e-waste policy was developed following the feedback received during these consultations, with the cooperation of a dedicated national taskforce – including MCTIM, ARCT and the Ministère de l’Environnement, de l’Agriculture et de l’Elevage, as well as international and local experts. Following the inputs received during the consultations, a final draft of national e-waste policy was validated during a dedicated event held in Bujumbura in June 2022. The next steps will be for MCTIM to formally approve the policy and continue with the next implementation phase.
