Safaricom’s E-Waste drive: What happens to your old phones after collection?

E-waste Recycling | 2026-11-09 04:07:04 | By Paul Ploumis

Safaricom has urged Kenyans to surrender old mobile phones, chargers, earphones, batteries and other unused electronic gadgets as part of an initiative aimed at reducing electronic waste and protecting the environment.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Old mobile phones, broken chargers, damaged laptops and dead batteries often end up forgotten in drawers or thrown away with ordinary household rubbish. However, these items can contain materials that pose risks to the environment when they are not handled properly.

The telecommunications company is asking members of the public to collect unused electronic accessories from their homes and offices and drop them off at any Safaricom retail shop across the country by November 13, 2026.

In an announcement shared on November 6, 2026, Safaricom highlighted the growing number of unused chargers and electronic accessories kept in Kenyan households, particularly gadgets that remain unused after customers upgrade to newer devices.

From collection points to recycling centres

Safaricom has identified the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Centre (WEEE Centre) and Warmtech as some of the licensed handlers involved in processing the collected electronic waste.

The company has previously worked with the WEEE Centre, which specialises in managing discarded electronic equipment.

According to the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), electronic waste delivered to the WEEE Centre in Nairobi is weighed, registered and sorted to determine whether it can be reused, refurbished or dismantled for recycling.

This means an old phone that is still functional may follow a different route from one that is damaged beyond repair.

Devices that cannot be reused are dismantled, allowing different components to be separated for further processing. Some recovered materials are recycled locally, while others are sent to specialised partners abroad.

The WEEE Centre has previously reported processing up to 10 tonnes of electronic waste monthly at its Nairobi facility.

What happens to the recovered materials?

Electronic devices contain materials such as copper, aluminium, plastics and other metals that can be recovered and used in manufacturing.

For instance, Safaricom’s 2024 Sustainable Business Report documented how materials recovered through its partnership with the WEEE Centre could be used to manufacture products such as plastic chairs and poles.

However, not every component can be recycled in the same way. Some electronic parts require specialised treatment to prevent hazardous substances from contaminating the environment.

According to Kenya’s National Refurbishment, Reuse, Assemble and E-Waste Management Programme, electronic waste can contain substances such as lead, mercury and cadmium, which can contaminate soil, water and air when improperly handled.

This is why electronic waste should not be burned, dumped in open spaces or dismantled without appropriate safety measures.

For Kenyans participating in Safaricom’s collection drive, the company has encouraged members of the public to surrender old mobile phones, chargers, earphones and other small electronic accessories at its retail shops nationwide.

The exercise runs until Friday, November 13, 2026. Safaricom has also clarified that participants will not receive monetary compensation for the gadgets they surrender.

Before handing over an old phone, users should back up important information, remove their SIM and memory cards, sign out of personal accounts and perform a factory reset where possible.

Ultimately, the collection drive is intended to ensure that electronic devices that are no longer useful to their owners do not become another source of environmental pollution. Instead, their reusable components can be recovered and given another purpose.

Courtesy: www.k24digital.com