According to the United Nations, 8 kg of e-waste per person will be generated internationally in 2023. Only 17,4% of this e-waste will be properly collected, treated and recycled globally, the rest will end up in landfill, treated incorrectly or will still remain stored in households. Even at European level, only 55% of electrical waste ends up in the recycling stream.
International E-Waste Day is celebrated annually, on October 14, with the aim of raising awareness among the population regarding the identification of solutions for handing over for recycling electrical equipment that can no longer be refurbished or used.
This year's slogan is '"Hand over for recycling everything that works with batteries or plugged in!" and focuses on electrical waste considered invisible, these being objects that are not recognized by consumers as electrical equipment and, consequently, end up not being handed in correctly for recycling, their destination being the landfill most of the time. Every year, almost 1/6 of the entire amount of waste electrical equipment generated is cables, electrical toys, electrical tools, electrical cigarettes, USB sticks and other types of electrical component waste that, most of the time, do not reach on the recycling stream because the population does not consider them electrical waste or does not know where to dispose of them.
A study UNITAR reveals that approx 7,3 billion electric toys are disposed of annually, meaning one toy for every person on Earth. Also in the study, it was discovered that 950 million kg of cables were generated as waste in 2022, enough to circle the planet 107 times. The cables also contain copper, a valuable resource in the category of critical raw materials, essential for the green transition and for the production of new electrical equipment. Thus, when electrical waste does not reach recycling, these resources are wasted.
ECOTIC (www.ecotic.ro
), the first organization for the transfer of responsibilities in the management of electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) in Romania, collected in the 17 years of activity plague 340 tons of WEEE, thus contributing to the circular economy by reintroducing over 150 tons of iron, 000 tons of plastic, 46 tons of copper into the circuit and, at the same time, prevented the spread of some substances into the atmosphere
dangerous, such as 128 tons of freon and 7 tons of phosphorescent powder (found in CRT tube televisions).
With the occasion of International Day of E-Waste since this year, ECOTIC is carrying out an extensive online communication campaign, on its own social media channels, including a video material of vox-pop in which people from various countries, including Romania, were asked to identify electrical equipment from a series of presented objects.
On this occasion, a number of companies joined the ECOTIC awareness initiative by carrying out information and collection actions for the recycling of electrical waste for their employees. On October 11, 16 representatives of ECOTIC affiliated producers had the opportunity to see how electrical waste is recycled in Romania to European standards at the Green WEEE factory from Buzău.
Also, ECOTIC will carry out a series of local campaigns for the collection of electrical waste, within the program Orase Curate (Clean Cities) in the: Braşov (October 14-15), Bacon (October 16-17), Giurgiu (October 17-21), Voluntari (October 16-21), as well as the campaign Recycling Station (October 13-15) at DN1Value Centre, Balotești, where she will be present ECOTIC Caravan and where eco education workshops for the little ones will take place.
"International Day of Electronic Waste" is a good opportunity for us to inform users of electrical equipment about the importance of collecting and recycling equipment and small devices forgotten in drawers (mobile phones, tablets, watches, cables, USB sticks). In this sense, we recommend handing them in for recycling at municipal collection points or at those within electronics stores to contribute to environmental protection and the transition to the circular economy by reusing raw materials in new production processes," declares Valentin Negoiță, President ECOTIC.