A SIM card is a small piece of plastic that can go in the bin, but what do you do when you have 155 boxes of 1,000 SIM cards that you are not using?
That was the challenge Ronald Musani and other members of the Fintech Operations Department were facing a few years ago.
“We accumulated approximately 155 boxes. Each box had 1000 SIM cards. As a result, we ended up with approximately 1,000 kg of unused boxes stored here. That is why we needed a solution for proper disposal,” says Ronald Musani, who works in the Fintech Operations Department.
A smarter solution was urgently required. The answer? A virtual method to reduce reliance on physical SIM cards and a circular approach to disposing of obsolete stock safely.
E-waste is not just about SIM cards; it encompasses electronic equipment that is non-functional, unwanted or discarded. They range from old television sets that no longer work, printers, mobile phones, and computers, to larger appliances such as servers, antennas, and expired batteries.
The telecommunications industry is one of the top producers of e-waste. Rapid technological advances and frequent replacement of electronic devices often lead to quick obsolescence, adding to the growing global challenge of managing e-waste. If not disposed of properly, these items can damage the environment.
It’s for this reason that Safaricom has committed to achieving “Zero waste to landfill” through its circularity initiatives, which began in 2012.
“As Safaricom, we commit to ensuring that no waste goes to the dump site, zero waste to the dump site. To do this, we ensure that we have partners on board who support us with collection, and they have the capacity to recycle whatever they have received from us,” says Valentine Cheruiyot, a Climate Change and Environment Manager at Safaricom.
As part of the circularity initiatives, Safaricom began by targeting customers’ mobile devices, designating retail shops as drop-off points. This was done in partnership with the WEE Centre, which ensured collection and proper disposal. This arrangement continued until 2022, when they realised that they (Safaricom) were not reporting all matters related to e-waste management because the aspect of equipment disposal was missing.
Until recently, Safaricom disposed of equipment that had reached end-of-life through auction; however, this method proved inefficient for proper tracking and reporting. Therefore, in 2022, in collaboration with the technology and supply chain teams, the company began the process of selecting a permanent service provider capable of recycling and reporting.
In 2024, Safaricom onboarded Warmtech, a certified e-waste handler.
“They dispose of a lot of servers, switches, and retired batteries. Today, we have data that we’ve shown to Safaricom, indicating that 90% of the material is being recycled, and less than 5% is sent back to the landfill,” says Baharinshah Hussain, Chief Operating Officer, Warmtech Africa.
So far, 300 tonnes of e-waste have been disposed of through Warmtech. This partnership ensures that the figures Safaricom reports are supported by documentation, meaning Warmtech provides Safaricom with a certificate that details the amount of waste received from the telco, as well as how much has been recycled, resold, and repurposed.
Nonetheless, efforts are being made to reduce the amount of waste generated, starting from product design, the need for ordering new equipment, and durability.
“This is a dynamic environment, and it is a delicate balancing act, because we do have competing needs against limited resources. We don’t just upgrade for the sake of upgrading. It must undergo a regular internal justification process to ensure that we are maximising the value of that investment,” says Festus Muga, the Network Operations and Support lead.
To extend the lifespan of some equipment, Safaricom has upgraded its technology to more advanced batteries such as lithium-ion batteries. While lead-acid batteries typically last five years, lithium-ion batteries can endure for 8-10 years. Additionally, solar panels are being employed to power masts (base transmission stations) and data centres.
“The advantage of solar panels is that they have a longer useful life, 25 years to 30 years. I believe that by the time we reach the end of life for these panels, we will already have someone who can take them up, recondition them, or repurpose them,” Joseph Otemba, an engineer at Safaricom, says.
Data protection is also key and is embedded in the disposal process, which Safaricom oversees.
“We go through the process of deleting this data from the hardware itself before disposing of it. So there are various mechanisms involved. We have proprietary tools that allow the internal administrators to format this data, and we also have other electronic tools, like deposing tools that enable you to use an electromagnetic field to wipe this data from these devices,” Festus says.
Watch this video to learn more about the process of e-waste disposal at Safaricom.
