“These days, the Electronic waste (e-waste) is considered the largest growing waste stream. It is hazardous, complex and expensive to treat in an environmentally-sound manner, and there is a general lack of legislation or enforcement surrounding it,” Hamdan says, adding that the composition of e-waste is highly diverse and depends on product lines and categories; where e-waste contains more than 1000 different substances, which can be classified into hazardous and non-hazardous.
“Electronic products often contain bioaccumulative and toxic substances including heavy metals such as lead, nickel, chromium, and mercury, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). It also consists of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics, glass, wood and plywood, printed circuit boards, rubber and other items,” he notes.
All of this instigated Hamdan to start E-TAFKEEK, a company that specializes in electronic waste recycling. “It was established in response to the urgent need to treat electronic waste in an environmentally-friendly way, while providing jobs for in this economy,” he notes.
Hamdan adds that the main objective is to establish an industrial facility for recycling electronic waste in Jordan to profit off of selling items resulting from the recycling process. That along with taking into account all environmental conditions which could reduce the environmental impact of electronic waste in Jordan.
“We are in the final stages of the process of legal registration, we have company certificate of registration, we have contracts with Al-Zarqa City municipality to rent a land and we are about to finish training of our staff in cooperation with the Vocational Training Corporation VTC,” he says.
Hamdan and E-TAFKEEK were part of the SwitchMed Incubation Program. “Without SwitchMed’s support and encouragement, our success wouldn’t have been possible,” he says. “Mentors have played a significant role in helping us create our business plan, in addition to the technical assistance provided to recognize the key stakeholders.”
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