After the success registered in 2018, the second edition of the International E-Waste Day (International Day of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) took place on 14 October 2019.
International WEEE Day is an initiative of the WEEE Forum and aims to encourage users to dispose of waste electrical and electronic equipment correctly, thus leading to an increase in collection and recycling rates. Last year, more than 50 organizations from 40 countries around the world organized many types of promotional activities, from conferences and seminars, to street and school collection activities, to social media campaigns, guides and online games. The International Telecommunication Union, the UN agency responsible for ICT, has become a partner in this initiative, spreading the message widely.
According to the UN, only 20% of global e-waste is recycled annually, which means that 40 million tonnes of WEEE end up in landfills, are burned or traded illegally, or treated in a sub-standard way. All this leads to huge losses of valuable raw materials and causes serious health, environmental and social problems through illegal shipments of waste to developing countries.
Pascal Leroy, Director General of the WEEE Forum, said: "From 2019, the minimum collection rate to be achieved annually in EU Member States will be 65% of the average weight of devices placed on the market in the last three years, or alternatively , 85% of WEEE generated (from 2021 for Romania - no). The new collection targets aim to ensure that about 10 million tonnes, or about 20 kg per capita, will be collected separately. Such a high collection rate is impossible to achieve without the involvement of all actors in the value chain, including citizens. We are confident that International WEEE Day will contribute to a better awareness of society and thus to an improvement in collection rates not only in Europe but also globally. ”
The ECOTIC Association, as in the previous year, organized a variety of activities on the occasion of International WEEE Day, including: awareness campaigns in schools, information campaigns with producers and collection campaigns organized together with GreenWEEE. Over 1000 students were informed about the correct way to dispose of WEEE and DBAs.
Also, October 14 marked the visit of the ECOTIC Caravan in the Vacaresti Natural Park, with presentations of the Caravan and guided tours of the Park.
For details:
www.weee-forum.org/iewd-about/
www.ecotic.ro