Where Some See Waste, Others See Opportunity: Young Sierra Leoneans Fight Against Electronic Waste, Plastic Pollution

Peter George attaching the solar lights and panels on the plastic design bags. Credit: Madina Kula Sheriff/IPSby Madina Kula Sheriff (freetown)Monday, August 10, 2026Inter Press Service FREETOWN, August 10 (IPS) - Growing up, Peter George, a young innovator in Bo District in Southern Region, Sierra Leone, watched people dump electronic waste near the farmland where his grandmother cultivated crops. He told IPS that people would dump electronic waste, such as discarded batteries and other damaged electronic components, near the area where she grew crops, and the chemicals from the waste affected the crops and reduced yields. But that experience triggered his curiosity and fascination with how electronic devices worked and led him to use e-waste to create solar lamps for students.“We started using some of the electronic waste to develop solar lamps. These lamps helped students study at night, and we also donated some to other children,” George said.However, George’s innovation shifted from solar lamps to recycling plastics to make backpacks as plastic pollution worsened in Bo.“Many people often think plastic pollution is only a problem in Freetown, but the issue is also very serious ...