A small depot in suburban Tunis houses a solution to one of our biggest environmental challenges. Engineer-turned-social entrepreneur Sabri Cheriha created WeFix, a startup addressing Tunisia's growing electronic waste problem, according to an AFP article published on Phys.org.
Cheriha spotted a gap in Tunisia's waste management system. With about 8 million household appliances and 9 million cell phones used across Tunisia, he noticed that once these devices break down or get replaced, "there's no service to properly dispose of them."
WeFix is an "all-in-one service" that collects, repairs, and recycles electronic waste.
The startup kept 22 tons of e-waste from landfills in 2023 and 88 tons last year, with plans to handle 132 tons this year. Their method creates both environmental benefits and economic opportunities in a country where the average monthly salary is around $310.
Refurbished products from WeFix can cost up to 60% less than new ones, making eco-friendly choices more affordable for Tunisians. This approach helps tackle the estimated 154,000 tons of e-waste Tunisia produces yearly, with households creating about 88,000 tons of that total.
While Tunisia has committed to managing waste in general, electronic waste comes with unique challenges. The country lacks institutional channels for processing this type of waste. Waste management expert Walid Merdassi suggests manufacturers and retailers should take back used machines and work with local recycling companies to extract valuable materials like gold, copper, and platinum.
Cheriha has plans to grow his startup's impact. He hopes to expand WeFix to Morocco, though scaling up will be difficult. Finding skilled electronics workers is becoming harder, as many are moving to Europe, where demand for refurbished appliances is high.
"When we talk about 'avoided waste,' we're also considering the resources needed to manufacture a single washing machine — 50 or 60 kilos of finished product require over a tonne of raw materials," Cheriha explained. "So our environmental impact is twofold."
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