Clean energy.
Managed waste.
Protected lives.
Uganda's energy transition is real and necessary. Solar installations, hydropower expansion, and biomass systems are reshaping how communities access power and that is cause for genuine optimism.
But every battery that enters the market eventually reaches end of life. Without systems to manage that moment, the environmental gains of clean energy are offset by a slow-building toxic crisis in the communities that need clean energy most.
CECIC exists to close that gap through policy, education, infrastructure, and partnerships that make responsible battery management the norm, not the exception.
Uganda already has the legal framework to manage battery waste responsibly. The National Environment Act (2019) places Extended Producer Responsibility squarely on importers and sellers. The problem is not the law. It is that the law is not working.
Laws exist. Enforcement does not.
Political interference, opacity in regulatory processes, and underfunded implementation mean most hazardous battery waste bypasses formal systems entirely, ending up in landfills or handled through dangerous informal methods that put workers and neighbours at serious risk.
The cost falls on those least responsible.
Lead, cadmium, and mercury from improperly discarded batteries leach into soil and groundwater. Rural communities, often the first to adopt solar power and the least equipped to manage its waste, face contaminated water sources, degraded farmland, and long-term health consequences.
Four lines of action
Advocate for strong, enforced policy
We work directly with policymakers to activate existing EPR laws, close legislative gaps, and establish clear accountability for producers in the Ugandan market. This advocacy shifts the compliance burden from under-resourced local governments onto the importers and sellers who profit from battery sales and who bear legal responsibility for their end-of-life management.
Policy and legislationEducate and empower communities
Hands-on workshops and training are delivered, particularly in rural and underserved areas, covering the dangers of battery waste, safe handling and storage, and proper disposal. An informed public creates the demand needed to hold producers and regulatory authorities genuinely accountable, not just nominally so.
Community engagementPromote practical recycling infrastructure
CECIC supports the development of formal collection and recycling systems, including regional partnerships with established facilities such as Enviroserve in Rwanda, a state-of-the-art operation already serving East Africa. Alongside infrastructure, research into safer, locally appropriate battery technologies suited to Uganda's specific energy and economic context is actively championed.
Recycling and technologyBuild multi-stakeholder coalitions
No single actor can solve this alone. Battery importers, solar companies, civil society organisations, government agencies, and international partners are brought together to pool resources, align strategies, and build the nationally coordinated systems that this challenge demands. Collective action is the only path to scale.
Partnerships and coalitionsThe legal foundation
Uganda's National Environment Act (2019) and Waste Management Regulations already mandate Extended Producer Responsibility. The framework exists. CECIC's work is to make it real.
The regional opportunity
East Africa is developing recycling capacity. Partnerships with facilities like Enviroserve in Rwanda offer a practical near-term pathway for formal battery collection and processing in Uganda.
The community imperative
Rural and peri-urban communities bear the greatest exposure to battery waste toxins while having the least political power to demand change. CECIC centres their voice and their protection.