The first International E-Waste Day will be held on Saturday 13 October to promote the responsible recycling of end-of-life electronics.
It is estimated that 50 million tonnes of e-waste will be generated globally in 2018. Only 20% of this e-waste is recycled each year, which means that 40 million tonnes of e-waste is either placed in landfill, burned or illegally traded and treated in a sub-standard way, despite 66% of the world’s population being covered by e-waste legislation.
International E-Waste Day has been developed by the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) Forum, an international association of e-waste collection schemes comprised of 26 members, including TechCollect. 40 organisations in 20 different countries are involved in the Forum worldwide. International E-Waste Day will aim to raise the public profile of responsible e-waste recycling and encourage consumers to recycle their e-waste with the resulting increase in recycling rates on the day itself and into the future.
TechCollect, as the sole Australian representative, will be taking part in this inaugural International E-Waste Day. Through increased awareness, we will be espousing the values of responsible e-waste recycling and the role that everyone has to play in recycling and reusing valuable resources to close the loop and create a circular economy.
In the wake of China and Thailand’s import bans, and reports of illegal e-waste exports, it is crucial to educate Australians that an environmentally responsible e-waste recycling solution exists.
Warren Overton, ANZRP CEO, said, “E-waste is the largest growing waste stream in Australia, and International E-waste Day will hopefully grow into an annual campaign that raises awareness of the importance of recycling end-of-life electronics. This is an important and timely initiative because e-waste continues to increase in volume and the materials it contains are essential for manufacturing new products.
“Through our TechCollect recycling program, Australians have now recycled enough steel to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge again. We want to thank all Australians for their recycling achievements so far, however on a local, and global scale, there is still a lot to be done.”
Help us raise the profile of responsible e-waste recycling this October 13 by sharing our updates on social media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TechCollect/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/techcollect
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/australia-and-new-zealand-recycling-platform-limited/
Don’t forget to bring any unused electronics to your nearest TechCollect site.
