Tanzanians with fake mobile phones, yesterday, woke up with a very unpleasant surprise; their phones fell silent after a deadline by the country’s communication regulatory agency to switch off the phones elapsed.

All phones have individual identification numbers known as the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI), and as it so happens, there is a large proliferation of cheap counterfeits with fake IMEIs.

So, in the Tanzanian case, signals will not be able to pass through unauthenticated phones and unfortunate owners will be left holding duds in their hands, just fit to be thrown into the trash bin.

The issue of counterfeits is very serious in third world countries, and because of their short life spans, they are piling up as electronic waste (e-Waste) so their disposal is causing a headache to many, besides having a nefarious effect on the environment.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 20-50 million tonnes are produced each year, and in the next decade or so, countries like India will increase their e-Waste signature by at least five times.

With recycling still in its infancy in many countries, landfills are the only alternative but the heavy metals contained in the waste, such as lead, leak into the ground and contaminate the water table.

In Rwanda, the issue of e-Waste has yet not reached alarming proportions and hardly featured in the recent State of the Environment report, but it is a looming threat.

While the issue has been on the mind of the National Climate Change and Environment Fund (FONERWA), it needs to be treated with the same energy used to eradicate plastic bags, and promotion of recycling could be the first step.