Swiss Partners
Foundation Myclimate, Zurich
www.myclimate.org
Tobias Hoeck
Project Type:
Technology:
Country:
Project Status:
Project Start:
End of Project:
Contract:
Documentation
Swiss Contribution
The project’s lead partner and coordinator is the Swiss non-profit myclimate (MYC) Foundation. This ETH spin-off is a partner for effective climate protection – both locally and globally. myclimate focuses primarily on national and international climate protection projects.
Description
Kenya is one of the largest markets for off-grid solar products and shows the highest growth rates in Africa. This project has been tackling the issues related to electronic waste from off-grid solar products in collaboration with the local distributor Solibrium, a social enterprise located in Kakamega, Western Kenya. The main project goals have been the lifetime extension of off-grid solar products and the introduction of economic viable business models for waste management and the recycling of solar home systems.
Results
Workshops and meetings about off-grid products were held with the participation of around 750 users and interested parties, as well as with political and business decision-makers. A cooperation was set up with Aceleron Ltd. for reprocessing faulty batteries. Three potential business models were tested and the two most promising were implemented.
Impacts
The project reached and informed several thousand users of off-grid solar systems, sales and technical staff, and even public authorities. The two most promising business models (buy back and leasing) have been implemented and can be successively expanded. By the end of the project, 35 people were trained, 29 jobs were created and around 900 kg of electrical and electronic waste were collected then recycled; thus saving 5 tonnes of CO2. This project was selected in 2019 as one of the Global LEAP Awards’ winners in the Solar E-Waste Challenge category.