MTN Uganda on Tuesday donated e-waste worth UGX 20 million to Makerere University College of Engineering, Design, Art, and Technology for recycling, reuse, and disposal responsibly. The donation amounting to 390 items included 166 monitors, 134 desktops, and 90 laptops which will be revamped and donated to rural secondary schools to enhance ICT access and literacy.
The items weighed 1,831.5kgs, which contributes to carbon saving when recycled and reused.
Yasin Ramadhan, Senior Manager of Network Planning and Engineering at MTN Uganda told the press that the telco is excited to work with Makerere University College of Engineering, Design, Art, and Technology as they strive to ensure that e-waste is put to meaningful use while conserving the environment.
“We at MTN Uganda recognize the importance of conserving our environment and as such have mainstreamed eco-responsibility as a key priority in our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments so we can create shared value in the communities we operate in,” said Yasin.
Emmanuel Kakooza, ICT officer in the department of e-Services in the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance applauded MTN Uganda for coming up with the initiative that will see some of the e-waste products repurposed for a new use to conserve the environment and the population.
This development comes at the time the country has recorded a surge in the importation of electronics —laptops and mobile phones among others in recent years owing to changes in technologies, liberalization of the economies, and e-initiatives to boost service delivery. As a result, there has been a high turnover of ICT equipment and devices as the population keeps acquiring or replacing their devices with new ones that suit the latest technologies and leading to an increase in the volume of e-waste.
Eng. Dr. Dorothy Okello, the Dean, School of Engineering, College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology at Makerere University applauded MTN Uganda for partnering with the university to sustainably handle e-waste at a time countries across the globe are facing challenges in handling e-waste.
“We thank MTN Uganda for joining us in this journey and we are looking forward to growing this partnership for the betterment of our country and achievement of ESGs,” she remarked.
Marsha Walusimbi, the Head of Talent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at ATC Africa, commended MTN Uganda for the innovation meant to manage e-waste sustainably. “We thank MTN Uganda for taking the lead and showing us the way in e-waste management.” Adding “We are committed to the success of MTN Uganda in the delivery of its strategic objectives and ESG goals. We have also decided to partner with the university and we are donating our e-waste to them as well.”
Over the past years, MTN Uganda has come up with various initiatives including aligning its infrastructure and operations to environmental sustainability in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 7 (affordable and clean energy) and 13 – climate action, embracing paperless transactions, and solar energy in our network sites to conserve the environment.
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