{"id":74893,"date":"2025-06-26T08:45:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T07:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/?p=74893"},"modified":"2025-07-03T15:53:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:53:21","slug":"the-hidden-gold-in-your-drawer-how-ewaste-is-powering-the-circular-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/2025\/06\/26\/the-hidden-gold-in-your-drawer-how-ewaste-is-powering-the-circular-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"The hidden gold in your drawer: How eWaste is powering the circular economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"337\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Giulio-Airaga.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74897\" style=\"width:241px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Giulio-Airaga.png 337w, https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Giulio-Airaga-300x297.png 300w, https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Giulio-Airaga-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Giulio Airaga, Managing Director, Desco Electronic Recyclers<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Africa is experiencing a digital revolution. But while more people gain access to devices that improve lives, there\u2019s a growing downside: electronic waste. Over 2.9 million tonnes of e-waste are generated annually across the continent, yet less than 5% is formally recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, informal dumps, or is burned &#8211; releasing toxins and missing out on valuable materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This silent wave of waste is not only an environmental concern &#8211; it\u2019s a missed economic opportunity. Desco Electronic Recyclers, a certified South African e-waste and IT asset disposition (ITAD) provider, is tackling this challenge head-on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not just recycling electronics,\u201d says Giulio Airaga, Managing Director at Desco. \u201cWe\u2019re building the infrastructure for a circular economy, one that creates jobs, protects the environment, and delivers measurable value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From secure data destruction to environmentally sound recovery and second-life refurbishment, Desco operates at the intersection of sustainability and innovation. With certified downstream partners, they recover precious metals such as gold, copper, and palladium &#8211; materials that are often more concentrated in circuit boards than in mined ore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company is actively involved in aligning African practices with global frameworks such as the Basel Convention and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Through public-private partnerships, smart investment in automated recycling tech, and community awareness campaigns, Desco is shaping a more inclusive and responsible approach to electronic consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Africa\u2019s e-waste challenge is urgent. But it\u2019s also an opportunity. Desco is proving that with the right systems, innovation, and willpower, Africa can lead a new kind of resource revolution &#8211; one drawer of old tech at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa is experiencing a digital revolution. But while more people gain access to devices that improve lives, there\u2019s a growing downside: electronic waste. Over 2.9 million tonnes of e-waste are generated annually across the continent, yet less than 5% is formally recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, informal dumps, or is burned &#8211; releasing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":74896,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[888,298,399,9059,262],"tags":[17880,15864,2023,18073,453],"class_list":["post-74893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green","category-main-story-newsletter","category-more-news","category-south-africa","category-used","tag-desco-electronic-recyclers","tag-electronic-waste","tag-ewaste","tag-giulio-airaga","tag-south-africa"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74893"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75233,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74893\/revisions\/75233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}