Evaluation of Flow of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Benin

The present study focused on the flows of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) entering and circulating in Benin, the actors of the chain and the analysis of the current situation for the implementation of a strategy to strengthen local capacity to meet the requirement of the flow of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) for reuse in some African countries and to increase the sustainable management of resources by the recovery of materials in e-waste The results of various surveys show that tons of electrical and electronic equipments out of service reach the Benin territory in a range of from 6781 tons in 2004to 8560 tons in 2007 with a high rate of household penetration. These new or used equipments are managed by different groups of people that are consumers (large and small), repairers, collectors and recyclers. Note that, recycling is highly developed in the informal sector and mostly deals with the recovery and the recycling of electronic circuits (diodes, transistors, speaker, strength, magnet, etc.) and other parts such as aluminum, plastic, copper, etc.. The results obtained allowed to identify the market share of different producers, to evaluate the flow of new and used equipments, to establish the chain of actors and traceability of equipment. Also the socio - economic impacts and the environmental health issues were evaluated.