Powerstove clean cookstove is a fan-assisted biomass stove that burns wood pellet like gas, turns fire into electricity, with zero smoke emissions using 70% less fuel consumption compared to traditional open-fire cooking. The Powerstove has a built-in Lithium-ion battery that gets charged and supplies the energy to charge mobile phones, power the fan and providing lighting.
However, Powerstove Energy established “e-waste banks” that serve as community-based recovery facilities for discarded lithium-ion batteries and other electronic materials such as mobile phones, chargers, laptops, keyboards, batteries, solar PVs and so forth from donors, and users, whom we refer to as ‘client’. The revenue from sells of e-waste is added to the client’s “e-waste bank savings account,” thus creating an economic incentive for individuals and households to collect and recycle e-waste. In addition to reselling materials, many of our e-waste banks also operate as recycling business units, in which they convert recyclables and sell them as usable products (e.g. conversion of plastic packaging waste into handicrafts).
The e-waste banks are established as a Community Social Responsibility unit of Powerstove Energy and these efforts have not only reduced the waste stream that is dumped into garbage disposal sites, but has also eliminated illegal dumping of e-wastes and created additional job opportunities. In an effort to create generational change and alter mindsets, Powerstove targets young people and asks parents to register their e-waste banks accounts in their child’s name. The Company is also working with schools to increase youth participation by integrating e-waste management practices among students at an early age. As success of Powerstove Energy’s e-Waste Bank model has grown, the Ministry of Environment in Niger State has adopted and replicated the model. In 2019, Powerstove Energy focused on standardizing the requirements and procedures for operating e-waste banks and is creating a mobile platform called Trak 2.0 to make it easier to collect, collate and recycle e-wastes. Powerstove Energy hopes within the next 12 months to ensure the quality of this model, create an opportunity for collective marketing, serve as a training module that covers important topics such as exploring the business behind composting, as well as setting standards around e-waste collection and recycling.
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