Informal Dealers Coping But Fuelling Hazards

The Tsinga Elobi neighbourhood in Yaounde seems to be a major fief for the salvaging of scrap material. The case of Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is not different. The cacophonic sound which welcomes one to the area could be compared to that produced by a train in motion. When we got to this area in the course of this report, we met Mathias Da’a Thomas and his boys at a small workshop. It is filled with all sorts of spoiled electrical equipment including television sets, computers, irons, microwaves just to mention a few. In front of the shop, is man busy breaking the electronic equipment in to pieces. He stopped for a few seconds to look at his finger probably after being injured by one of the equipment. His palms were as dark as that of mechanic and his degree of concentration made him ignore any distractions. According to Matthias, the determined young man and his colleagues leave their houses every morning to dismantle the destroyed equipment in search of elements like iron aluminium, copper; motherboards, among others. To get elements like copper, they are obliged to burn the cables for extraction. The copper is being sold to dealers at a price he refused to reveal. He was as well ignorant of where the copper went to and what it is used for.  

He was however open with the case of aluminium and motherboards. As for motherboards, he said they can sell a kilogram for FCFA 2,500 meanwhile a kilogram of aluminium depending on the quality can cost between FCFA 400-500 and can gather about 50 kg in three days. Just like copper, Mathias does not know where the motherboards and aluminium end. We were however hinted that they are being sent to specialised industries in Douala while others are exported. Questioned on where they GET WEEE? Mathias explained that they move around the city and buy them from electronic repair workshops and from households. “The price depends on t...