Lobbying event by Beaatoona

“E-waste Best Management in Public Administrations and Institutions” lobbying event by Beaatoona
Lebanon lacks professional recycling solution of e- waste that meets the international norms and standards . Beeatoona NGO is so far the only party who has experience in this field and is currently planning the shipment of the collected e-waste from its national campaign, under the guidance of the Ministry of Lebanon. “Status of The Electronic Waste in The Lebanese Ministries” is a report that provides the information required to prepare a roadmap for the implementation of a specific structure for the proper management and for the developing of a policy framework in the country. Here are some interesting statistics shown in the report while conducting the project:
-65% of Lebanese use computers
-people aging 18-22 are the dominant users of computers constituting 90% of the age group range using computers
-use of computers in Nabatieh is the highest with 77%
-stored for 4 years before disposal constitute 20% of the disposal methods of e –waste in ministries, stored methods constitute 45% and sent away constitute 35%
-The average turnover rate for computers used between 2-4 years is 30% while more than 4 years use 70%
-the individual during his lifespan produces more than 500 times than its weight.
Mr. Smith, the president of USAID, discussed during the event the improper disposal of electronic devices in this electronic age and the potential environmental risks associated with E-waste and how when stored it reveals to be a costly operation which can reach up a 12000 a year. Then the president of Beeatoona tackled the question: Why e-waste? And then answered by” there is no legislation to manage these e-waste where 1 desktop and one 17 monitor contains 22 kg of chemicals and 240 kg of fossil fuel which can be also found in a mid size car”. The representative of the ministry of environment declared that their will be in the near future a law concerning management of electronic wastes and procedures to encourage the extended producer responsibility .She also stated that Law 387 and 432 can be considered the first legal step towards the commitment to the need to regulate the management of toxic substances. Then there was a display of the Proposed E-waste management plan that should be elaborated and adopted by all ministries:
1-creation of an inter ministerial E -waste Committee
-lobbying instrument to attain a ministerial decree
-insures the compliance of all ministries with regulations set by the ministerial decree
2-Inventory:
- To perform a detailed inventory of the current E-waste
-Schedule periodic inventories
- Common inventory manual should be tailored
3- Storage:
-A ventilated storage room with fire prevention tools ,and isolated from extreme weather conditions
-E-waste should not be mixed with other types of wastes
-E-waste should be stored on wooden pallets to protect the E-waste from water spills.
-it should not be stored for more 1 year
4-Disposal of E-waste
- It should be handled to accredited third parties, that would guarantee that the collected e-waste from the ministries would be properly stored dismantled, and shipped for recycling.
Oversee the achievements of the project:
-produced an assessments of the e-waste in the ministries
-drafted a decree to legislate the best management and handed to the ministry of Environment
-designated awareness
At the end, I should mention that all parties were glad by the great success achieved because of the high support of ministry and Beeatoona delegation.