The management of waste and electrical, electronic and pneumatic equipment is today a major challenge in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is in particular to respond to this problem that during the 102nd meeting of the Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic, Félix Tshisekedi, once again called for the establishment of a waste management program.
The main objectives of this program are multiple: to reduce the health and environmental risks associated with the transfer of these polluting products from industrialized countries to the DRC, to mobilize resources in the form of eco-fees estimated at several hundred million dollars, to offer source of additional revenue for the Congolese government. This would make it possible to finance other investment projects or household waste management.
Scales applicable to the different products have been set on the basis of international standards, in order to prevent the DRC from losing these funds, which are nevertheless necessary for the establishment of a waste management and reprocessing infrastructure. These resources not currently collected constitute an intolerable shortfall for the country.
The system that will be put in place at the national level will enable the DRC to recover its eco-royalties, which are currently collected by international suppliers when selling electronic equipment to importers. The Ministers of Environment and Sustainable Development, as well as Finance, have been instructed to do their utmost to enable the State to recover these funds.
The DRC has a waste management program for electronic and pneumatic equipment developed in accordance with the provisions of the 1989 Basel Convention, which entered into force in 1992 within the framework of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The aim of this program is to regulate the cross-border movement between countries of products that are potentially dangerous for the health of populations and the environment when they are at the end of their life.
Waste recycling today represents an important source of funding and jobs in the DRC, and the implementation of a waste management program is more than necessary to meet these environmental, health and economic challenges.