100 organizations from 50 countries around the world will participate in the third edition of the International Day for the Recycling of Electronic Waste, which will take place on October 14.
The event, organized by the WEEE Forum (an international non-profit organization for the transfer of responsibilities in the field of e-waste management) brings together actors from around the world to promote fair behavior in the separate collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), for recycling and recovery. This year's edition focuses on educating the general public in order to increase their awareness of the correct disposal of used equipment.
It is estimated that 53,6 million tonnes of e-waste was generated globally in 2019, more than ever before, and the figure is expected to reach 75 million tonnes by 2030, meaning 9 kg per person in the world. . Electronic waste is not only widespread, but also has a material value; the raw materials contained in the global e-waste generated in 2019 are worth around EUR 50,8 billion.
Last year, less than 18% of this waste generated globally was officially registered as recycled, the rest either landfilled or was illegally burned or traded and treated improperly, although 71% of the world's population benefits e-waste legislation and have an obligation to recycle it. This results in a huge loss of valuable and critical raw materials in the supply chain and causes serious health, environmental and societal problems.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, expressed his support for the International Day for the Recycling of Electronic Waste: “The Action Plan of the Commission for the Circular Economy brings the concept of circularity to society as a whole. The plan focuses on sectors where the impact is very high, such as electronics, and we will analyze the entire product life cycle. The main goal is to prevent the generation of waste - to stop it before it happens and, when it happens, to look for ways to turn waste into a useful resource. However, for this plan to be successful, we need citizens who are aware and know how to contribute to the protection of the environment. These are the reasons that make International E-Waste Day such an important and relevant day. ”
ECOTIC continues its mission to make the population of Romania aware of the International Day for the Recycling of Electronic Waste, through activities in the online environment to promote good environmental practices.
On this day, ECOTIC launched the call center number 021.9641 to which all Romanian citizens can turn, when they need support in the separate delivery of waste electrical and electronic equipment. At the same time, the "Be at home in the country as well as abroad" campaign returned to the small screens and YouTube in order to be able to transmit the methods of handing over WEEE separately to as many citizens as possible.
On October 14, ECOTIC together with the SENECA Association launches the QUIZ “Monsters in the pit”, where participants can play and find out how it is correct to hand over WEEE. The monsters in the pit will disappear only after we learn how to collect them separately.
ECOTIC partner companies want to give examples of good practice and have decided to contribute to the promotion of this day by conducting internal campaigns dedicated to employees. They are invited to teach WEEE and learn how they can act to protect the environment.
More details ECOTIC website and Facebook page of the organization.