For Dutch firm, buyers' fee in Europe gets e-waste recycled in Africa

Lagos/Amsterdam: After years of struggling to make a living selling recyclable parts from electronic waste recovered in Africa, Dutchman Joost de Kluijver realised he needed a new business model if his firm was going to survive.

So in 2016, Closing the Loop began tagging a fee onto new device purchases by its clients, which include major bank ABN Amro and the Dutch government. By adding roughly 5 euros ($6) per phone and 15 euros ($18) per laptop, Closing the Loop now funds electronic waste collections in a string of African countries including Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, and ships it to a recycling facility in Italy.