Meet Pravashen Naidoo – The inspiring leader and co-founder of EWaste Africa

By: Dylan Naidoo

The last thing I expected was to go to Pietermaritzburg at 7am in the morning. However, one thing I have learnt with my time at Business Sense is that we are dedicated to uplifting and shedding light onto the businesses that shape the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), no matter the time. It opened my eyes to many business leaders, talking passionately about their products and services. However, products will live and eventually die out, including electronic devices. So where do you go to dispose of your non-working electronics? Look no further than EWaste Africa.

First arriving at E-waste Africa, the layout of the place looked exceptional. The main office was located right next to the entrance, whilst the industrial side of the business laid further back. Small runner cars and bakkies were littered everywhere, with bright-faced workers scattered around large heavy trucks. We headed inside the offices, greeted by bright-faced staff, and got settled in to interview the co-founder and current chief executive officer (CEO) of EWaste Africa, Pravashen Naidoo.

Pravashen’s educational and career began studying electromechanical engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and would work as a plant manager at Unilever. However, he would end his career at Unilever due to having to retrench many employees to sustain Unilever. Pravashen was upset with this situation and left Unilever, and shortly after leaving Unilever, he established EWaste Africa in 2013.

EWaste Africa serves as a collection network of electronic waste, such as lightbulbs, small appliances, solar panels, communication equipment and so much more. What started out as a light bulb recycling company is quickly morphed into a complete, licenced, e-waste disposal and recycling facility with plants located around South Africa. When talking about his purpose, Pravashen’s response stood out to me. He cared about creating jobs and was happy that -Waste Africa allowed him to create jobs in South Africa. He also mentioned that he feels joy knowing that EWaste Africa is helping the environment, minimising electronic waste. Job creation is a huge aspect for Pravashen, linking his greatest achievement to “60 permanent jobs”.

One of the more fascinating aspects I learned from Pravashen is his explanation of electronic waste. By law, it is illegal to dispose of electronics into bins and municipal landfills sites. Under further research, the National Policy for the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) outlines that consumers must use authorised collection sites to dispose of electronics. As Pravashen mentions, many South Africans do not know this, and I was surprised by this discovery myself.

Seeing Pravashen talk proudly about EWaste Africa felt inspiring. The whole operation of EWaste Africa started out to fill a gap in the market had grown to help in job creation and make a real impact in the environment. That, in my eyes, showcases a business leader that not only enjoys their career, but also strives to make an impact on elements surrounding them.

Along with interviewing Pravashen, I got the opportunity to tour the recycling factory at E-Waste Africa. It housed machinery used for the recycling process of many different electronics, including light bulbs and solar panels. For the solar panels specifically, the recycling process has them crushing the solar panels into a fine powder form, where it’s then mixed together with other substances to create dry bricks, which was used to create the ground we stood on. That impressed me, a business that believes in the durability of their products as much as to use them on the very ground they operate.

Pravashen's knowledge on the importance of e-waste and his stance on job creation was fascinating to hear, especially his commitment to his role and the role of his staff. Seeing the factory plant and the recycled electronics being used in other applications was certainly something special, considering these are being made from recycled electronic waste. As such, it gives me great pleasure to hold EWaste Africa to a very high regard.

It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when you fall, but it's important to get back up the next day and start again – Pravashan Naidoo | Chief Executive Officer of E-Waste Africa

Visit the EWaste Africa website here: https://ewasteafrica.net/

Pravashen Naidoo | Co-founder and CEO of EWaste Africa