Nairobi, April 13 -- Imagine undertaking a thorough home cleaning that does not end with a small, neat bag of trash, but with a heavy, tangled nest of frayed cables, cracked screens, dead phones, and electronics you no longer need.

In Kenya, this pile is part of the 51,000 metric tonnes of electronic waste, or e-waste, generated every year. This staggering volume accounts for about 70 per cent of the hazardous materials found in our environment. A large share of this e-waste comes from household devices like toasters and vacuum cleaners, which make up nearly 37 per cent of the total.

According to a March 2026 Greenpeace Africa report, these everyday appliances alone account for 19,737 metric tonnes of the e-waste generated in Kenya...