Safe e-waste handling practices in informal recycling

Safe e‑waste handling in informal recycling is about reducing exposure to toxic chemicals while still allowing people to earn a livelihood from e‑waste. Although formal, licensed recycling centres remain the safest option, many workers in Nairobi and similar cities operate in informal settings such as homes, backyards, and roadside yards. In these environments, several simple but critical practices can significantly lower health and environmental risks.

1. Avoid open burning and acid baths

Open burning of cables and e‑waste to recover copper, and the use of strong acids (often in “acid baths”) to extract metals, are common in informal recycling but extremely dangerous. Burning plastics releases dioxins, furans, and heavy‑metal fumes, while acid uses can release toxic gases and create hazardous liquid waste. Safer informal‑sector practices focus on mechanical separation and dismantling (using pliers, cutters, and basic tools) instead of fire or chemicals, and only passing circuit‑board or precious‑metal recovery to formal or semi‑formal facilities that can handle advanced treatment safely.

2. Use basic personal protective equipment (PPE)

Workers should wear gloves, masks (preferably respirator‑type or at least multi‑layer masks), safety goggles, and covered footwear whenever handling broken electronics, dust, or cables. This helps reduce inhalation of lead and mercury dust, skin contact with toxic chemicals, and eye injuries from sparks or broken glass. In Nairobi’s informal sectors, even low‑cost PPE can dramatically reduce exposure to hazardous substances often found in e‑waste, such as lead from CRT screens and mercury from fluorescent components.

3. Work in well‑ventilated areas and segregate tasks

Informal recyclers should avoid working in small, enclosed rooms and instead choose open, well‑ventilated spaces where fumes can disperse. Tasks such as breaking screens, cutting wires, and sorting metals should be carried out away from homes, kitchens, and children’s play areas. Separating dry mechanical work from any wet‑processing steps (if they must be done) helps limit contamination of soil and water around the workspace.

4. Keep e‑waste dry and covered, and control dust

Storing e‑waste under a simple tarp or in covered bins keeps rain from washing contaminants into the ground and reduces dust spread. Dust from crushing printed circuit boards, CRTs, and cables can carry lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals, so spraying water lightly before breaking items (where safe and feasible) can dampen dust. After work, workers should wash hands and exposed skin thoroughly with soap and water and change out of work clothes before entering living areas.

5. Separate hazardous components for proper disposal

Informal workers can be trained to recognise and separate the most hazardous parts of e‑waste—such as batteries, CRT monitors, lamps containing mercury, and circuit boards with heavy metals—and store them separately in labelled containers awaiting formal collection. These components should not be burned, buried, or left in open drains. Supporting local take‑back or drop‑off schemes (sometimes run by governments, NGOs, or companies) can channel these high‑risk items to licensed facilities rather than open dumps.

6. Exclude children and pregnant women

WHO and other health bodies stress that children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to lead and mercury from informal e‑waste recycling. In informal settings, adults should not allow children to play with or dismantle electronics, and pregnant women should avoid environments where cables are burned or CRTs are broken. Community education can help households understand which materials are dangerous and how to route e‑waste safely to workers or formal recyclers.

Safe e‑waste handling in informal recycling is not about eliminating the sector overnight, but about making it “safer” through basic protective behaviour, improved knowledge, and closer links to formal e‑waste management systems. For Nairobi, this means supporting training, simple PPE, and safer workspaces while encouraging a gradual shift of high‑risk processing steps into licensed facilities that follow national e‑waste guidelines.