PRO WEEE coalition, during which ECOTIC is a founding member, together with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests launched the information and awareness campaign: Hand over defective electrical and electronic equipment for recycling!
The campaign message focuses on directing the general public to the correct and concrete solutions for handing over electrical waste for recycling. All information related to e-waste as well as map with dedicated collection points, available nationally, are on the platform www.recicleazadeee.ro. The Recycling Map is a project developed by the environmental NGO Viitor Plus.
Also, a spot dedicated to the campaign received the approval of the National Audiovisual Council, which decided to ask audiovisual media service providers, at national, local and regional level, to support the broadcast of the video/audio spot, for a period of 6 months. The spot can be viewed here.
What is e-waste?
All objects or products that work by connecting to electricity or batteries fall into the category of electrical and electronic equipment, and the moment they can no longer be used or repaired they become waste electrical or electronic equipment (WEEE) and should go to the recycling flow, by handing it over to dedicated collection points or by picking it up from home by authorized collectors. Collection points are available in electro IT shops, hypermarkets and collection points/centres managed by local public authorities.
What happens if WEEE does not reach the recycling stream??
When not properly collected, WEEE does not end up in a treatment and recycling plant, but in landfills or the scrap stream. Black smoke from the outskirts of towns that poisons our air and environment is also caused by burning electrical equipment such as cables or other equipment. The loss of WEEE in the informal flow is the result of inappropriate behavior of the population, which harms the environment, the health of the population (through improper treatment of equipment containing hazardous substances). In addition, valuable resources are lost that could be repaired, made ready for reuse, or re-enter the production cycle through proper recycling.
The situation of electronic waste at European level
At the end of 2022, the European Commission conveyed that almost half of the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) disposed of in Europe is not properly collected and recycled. It is reported that the collection rate of mobile phones is below 5%, and in EU households there is one estimated stockpile of 700 million unused and unusable mobile phones. A large part of WEEE goes unnoticed because consumers, if they do not simply keep the items for possible reuse, often throw away items such as kettles, toasters, electric toothbrushes, electronic cigarettes, cables, USBs, toys with household waste which is battery operated.