On October 13, the first edition of eWaste Day takes place, the international day for waste electrical and electronic equipment.
International Day for Electrical and Electronic Waste (WEEE) is initiated by the WEEE Forum and supported by 26 of its member organizations and involves 40 organizations from 20 countries around the world. The event is meant to bring to the public's attention the importance of WEEE recycling and to encourage consumers to hand over their own electrical and electronic waste for recycling, in order to increase recycling rates in the future.
It is estimated that in 2018, 50 million tons of electrical and electronic waste will be generated worldwide. Half of them are personal devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets and televisions, the rest being large appliances and heating and cooling equipment.
Only 20% of WEEE generated globally is recycled each year, which means that 40 million tonnes of WEEE are either dumped, burned or traded illegally and treated improperly. This is despite the fact that 66% of the world's population has legislative regulations on electrical and electronic waste. This results in a huge loss of valuable raw materials in the supply chain and causes serious problems for health, the environment and society due to illegal shipments of waste to developing countries.
Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said: "This is an important and welcome initiative, as electrical and electronic waste continues to grow in volume and the materials contained in it are essential for the manufacture of new products and for satisfying consumer demand for electronic products. Even in the European Union, which is a leader in WEEE recycling, only 35% of e-waste is officially reported as being collected and recycled. Awareness-raising initiatives have a positive impact on collection rates and will help member countries reach the WEEE Directive targets, while also helping Europe develop the circular economy."
In this context, ECOTIC, as a member of the WEEE Forum, it organizes together with its partners and collaborators activities aimed at promoting the separate collection and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment.
Between October 8-12, the ECOTIC Caravan will visit several schools in Bucharest, informing students and teachers about the importance of collecting and recycling, in general, and WEEE in particular. The ECOTIC caravan, a mobile exhibition featuring 10 types of electrical and electronic equipment disassembled to highlight recyclable content, along with other useful information on the importance of recycling, will be present on October 13, between 10:30 and 16:30 at the entrance to the Natural Park Cowboys. On this occasion, visitors will benefit from guided tours of the Caravan and the Văcărești Park.
"We support the first edition of International eWaste Day by organizing information activities through the ECOTIC Caravan in educational institutions and companies in order to make citizens aware of the benefits of recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment and capitalizing on raw materials in the context of transition to circular economy," said Valentin Negoiță , President of ECOTIC.