Pilot e-waste disposal project in the works for Penang

KUALA LUMPUR: A pilot project to collect and dispose of household electronic waste is in the works for Penang, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas.

He said the project had been in development since September last year by the Department of Environment (DOE), Penang Municipal Council and Japan International Cooperation Agency and would be used as a base for e-waste collection to be implemented in other states.

“Electronic waste or e-waste from discarded electronic equipment like handphones and computers contain chemical elements like cadmium, mercury and lead.

“These substances will leach out from the devices and seep into the ground,” he said, adding that this could prove deadly if exposed to humans over long periods.

E-waste is regulated under the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations.

Uggah said an e-waste inventory study in 2008 revealed that the annual average e-waste generated by households was 700,000 tonnes.

Though initially slated to start in June, he said more work was needed in implementing a system to collect, sort and dispose or recycle Penang’s household e-waste effectively.

“The challenge now is to come up with a collection mechanism, sourcing for proper disposal sites and educating the public on what types of electronics can be recycled.”

There are 155 e-waste recovery facilities operating in the country. Out of that, 135 are for partial recovery and the rest for total recovery.

In January, Putrajaya director of hazardous substances division of the DOE Datin Paduka Che Asmah Ibrahim said Penang had the highest number of e-waste facilities.