Make haste in disposing E-WASTE

THE world generated 53.6 million tonnes of waste – an average of 7.3kg per capita – and only 17.4% was officially documented as properly collected and recycled, according to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020 report.

It was particularly concerning that recycling activities are not keeping up with the amount of e-waste that people are generating each day, the report stated. While recycling activities have grown to 1.8 million tonnes since 2014, the amount of e-waste has also increased by 9.2 million tonnes.

As it’s estimated that the amount of e-waste generated will reach 74.7 million tonnes by 2030 because the global amount of e-waste is increasing at almost two million tonnes per year, efforts to recycle unwanted electronics are more important than ever. According to the Global E-waste website, Malaysians generated an estimated 364 kilotonnes of e-waste in 2019 or an average of 11.1kg per capita. Data for e-waste collection rate was not available.

The Department of Environment (DOE) has a website dedicated to raising awareness on e-waste, including what constitutes e-waste, statistics and methods of disposing household e-waste in Malaysia.

The site also has a list by state for e-waste collection points in Malaysia. Some places accept e-waste such as washing machines, air conditioners, mobile phones and even DVD players.

Yew Kent, a spokesperson for Tan Boon Ming Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur said the company accepts e-waste but a small fee may apply to process larger items, while a representative at ICT Komtar in Penang said the company accepts items such as cables and computer mice. Both are in DOE’S list.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) also has an online list for mobile e-waste collection boxes throughout the country where users can discard items such as unused mobile devices, chargers and AA batteries.

The regulatory body reminded users to take precautions such as terminating their mobile service and deleting all data from devices before leaving it in the collection boxes.

Mohamed Tarek El-fatatry, the founder of Cyberjaya-based ERTH: E-waste

Recycling service, claimed that Malaysians discard up to Rm3bil worth of precious metals in landfills every year.

He hoped that more Malaysians would consider recycling their old electronics responsibly. It offers cash and e-wallet credits, as well as a free pick-up service for items such as laptops, TVS and vacuum cleaners.

Last year, DOE said it’s proposing regulations to make it mandatory for Malaysians to send unwanted electrical items such as televisions, air conditioners and mobile phones to licensed e-waste handlers.

It stated on its website that the Environmental

Quality (Household Scheduled Waste) Regulation is currently being reviewed by the

Attorney General’s Chambers.