LEGAL AND PRACTICAL CHALLENGES HINDERING THE REGULATION OF ELECTRONIC WASTE IN TANZANIA
This paper examines the legal and practical challenges hindering the regulation of electronic waste (e-waste) in Tanzania. The country has no single law dedicated to e-waste. Instead, e-waste is regulated through subsidiary regulations made under the Environmental Management Act and the Electronic and Postal Communications Act, which are administered separately by the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) and the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA). The paper draws on legal materials and on interviews and questionnaires with thirty respondents in Mwanza Region. It finds that the regulatory framework is only partially adequate. The main challenges are overlapping institutional mandates, weak enforcement capacity, underfunding, a large informal sector outside legal oversight, low public awareness, incomplete Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), the limited role of local government authorities, and weak control of second-hand imports. The paper argues that the main problem is not the absence of law but the fragmentation, under-resourcing and limited practical reach of the law that exists. It recommends a single e-waste statute with a binding EPR provision, clear cooperation between NEMC and TCRA, stronger funding, the involvement of local government, and gradual formalisation of informal actors.
Keywords: Electronic Waste, Extended Producer Responsibility, Environmental Law, Institutional Fragmentation, Tanzania.
