The general flow of e-waste in Nigeria starts with the importers who in most cases double as brokers. They work closely with the Lagos sea port authorities. The importers operate under the umbrella of Computer and Allied Product Dealer Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) a regulatory body in charge of coordinating affairs in the IT industry. Importers purchase containers by its weight and not by the value of what is inside them. Medium/high quality gadgets are taken for repair/refurbishing and then are sold, usually, in the Ikeja Computer village or Alaba International market. Those considered scraps or junk are taken to different land-fills spread around the city [5] [2] [3]. The Lagos state Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) delivers the collected waste to three official dumpsites in Lagos Olusosun dumpsite, Igodun and Ikorodu. In there, several thousands of non-registered individuals, including children, widely referred to as “scavengers”, work to collect and recycle e-waste. In few cases, waste picker communities or waste scavengers living on or next to the dump sites sort valuable e-waste and sell the recovered metals such as steel, aluminum and copper dealing directly with end-processing units (such as industries who re-melt and refineries). However, the common practice among recyclers is to sell extracted materials to middle-men who take them to end processing units. Many recyclers are also active in the collection of other kind of waste. [8] [5] [7]. |