ON June 15, 2021, the Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda announced to the House that they had received a petition from Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) calling upon Parliament to exercise its constitutional mandate by enacting a national e-waste policy.

The petition was referred to the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Tourism.

The MIHR petition follows the March 2021 national e-waste conference which revealed that Zimbabwe does not have a policy to manage the handling, disposal and recycling of electric and electronic waste.

This is despite the fact that the country recycles 0,03 kilotonnes of the 17 kilotonnes e-waste it generates annually (2020 Global E-Waste Monitor Report).

It is also against the background of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) which seeks to create a middle-upper income economy by year 2030 through digital economic development, rapidly increasing internet and ICT usage and digitisation of the government.

Electronic and electrical waste contains several toxic additives or hazardous substances, such as mercury, brominated flame retardants, and chlorofluorocarbons, or hydrochlorofluorocarbons which are harmful to humans and the climate.