Swaziland: Electronic Parts Centre

Swaziland- Electronic Parts Centre ensures environmental sustainability through recycling of broken down electric appliances.The Electric Parts Centre is a project that serves to repair and utilize the parts of old and broken down electric appliances in order to create new ones. They also recycle other plastic material and use it to create the new appliances. The project also counters youth unemployment because they also teach younger generation’s electric work.

The main aim of the project is to provide a sustainable way to recycle electric Another aim is to encourage people to be self-employed through teaching them new skills that can be used to make money, especially because youth unemployment remains a huge challenge that Swaziland faces today. The Centre also focuses on equipping the youth with the skill sets needed to fix and make new electric appliances.

The main activities are:

• Collecting broken electrical appliances and fixing them for resale
• Collecting parts of broken appliances to use them to make new ones.
• Teaching primary school level children how to do electric work and how to repair broken appliances

So far, the project has had a total of 50 direct beneficiaries.The main challenges that the project faces is the lack of material; especially thermostats and iron elements. They also lack teaching materials for when they teach at schools and acquiring material for practicals at the schools. They also struggle to find a conducive environment to conduct the classes. However, the Municipality of Mbabane has bin collectors who help separate the electronics from the rest of the garbage and the project collects these appliances from them without having to rummage through garbage.

The project equips both young boys and girls with the skills required to repair electronics which allows them to start making money from a tender age. This improves the economic situations of their families because it adds onto the income. This also ensures that the children stay away from illegal practices and drugs because instead of engaging in these, they work and make money. This project also cleans up electrical appliances in the community which is beneficial in ensuring environmental sustainability.

The project focuses on young people to ensure continuity of the project.