The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has made it clear that it is committed to controlling electronic waste in order to safeguard the environment from electronic waste, particularly when electronic equipment reach the end of their service life. The objective, according to the country's communications regulator, is to ensure that risks associated with improper disposal of electronic devices are adequately mitigated.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, Engineer Saddath Kalolo, Manager of Management of Communication and Internet of TCRA, insisted that the authority has obligations to coordinate management of electronic equipment when it has reached the end of its useful life, as specified in the Electronic Communications and Postal Act (EPOCA) of 2010 through improvements made in 2019.

"To ensure that this obligation is met, we collaborate with a number of entities and stakeholders who are concerned with preserving the environment, including the Office of the Vice President- Environment Division, the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Information Technology, the National Environment Management Council (NEMC), the ICT Commission, and private sector entities responsible for collecting electronic waste, to name a few," added he.

The Electronic and Postal Communications (Electronic Communications Equipment Standards and E-Waste Management) 2020 regulations require the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) to play a coordination role in the management of electronic waste. This is because the amount of electronic trash produced by increased use of communication devices like laptops, iPads, smartphones, and related communication equipment is growing along with new information and communication technology.

According to studies, most users in the industrialised world like to keep up with current technology, so they discard their outdated devices and ship them to less developed countries where they are utilised as second-hand electronics, contributing to the rapid accumulation of e-waste.

According to a 2017 United Nations report, electronic waste is increasing rapidly, especially in developing nations.

The Electronic and Postal Communications (Electronic Communications Equipment Standards and E-Waste Management) 2020 regulations have directed the responsibilities of various stakeholders including those importing electronic equipment into the country as well as establishing a procedure for collecting electronic waste to enable careful management of waste of electronic information, TCRA has worked hard to manage the implementation of this regulatory responsibility," stressed Kalolo.

It will be remembered that environmental pollution from the inconsiderate disposal of electronic waste has led the United Nations to emphasize the control of the disposal of such waste, where Kalolo stressed that TCRA carries out the responsibility of controlling electronic waste in accordance with the guidelines of the United Nations through the International Organization for Communications-ITU. TCRA has called on various stakeholders of the environment and citizens in general to achieve environmental protection resulting from the correct disposal of electronic waste.