International E-Waste Day - Highlighting the Issue
International E-Waste Day is held every year on the 14th of October by the WEEE Forum (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment Forum). It aims to highlight the massive and ever-growing issue of E-waste and to promote good practices and provide solutions and connections through ideas for the betterment of the planet (for more info see link in comments).
This year’s slogan is “Join the E-waste hunt - retrieve, recycle, and revive!”
According to the World Health Organisation, E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the world - increasing 3 times faster than the world’s population!
This problem needs to be resolved through innovation; better design and manufacturing practices; and consumer choices. These all play a part in allowing humanity to thrive whilst not continuing the already huge problem. Eventually, E-waste must be reduced.
One solution, and perhaps the only solution that will allow for continued development - economically and socially - is the circular economy.
The circular economy is characterised by first and foremost aiming to REDUCE waste in the first place. This can happen by a manufacturer realising they can avoid plastic packaging on a product, as a simple example. Reduction of waste creation can also happen when a consumer decides to not buy something unnecessary. Or, to buy things that last rather than replacing regularly. Or, to buy second hand etc, etc.
After Reduce, the next term is REUSE (or sometimes repurpose). This is to extend product lifecycles and reduce waste. When a consumer is able to buy second hand, it's good for the planet, and usually saves money too! At ICEX GROUP, we always aim to get the technology we process in working order so the devices can be reused. Repurpose is when something avoids recycling or landfilling by changing the purpose of the item - for example, a fisherman using old tyres as bumpers on their boat.
The third, and if possible, final, principle of the circular economy is RECYCLE. Recycle is the term everyone knows. And the term cycle can be somewhat misleading. Reusing is much more directly cyclical. Generally, when people refer to recycling they mean transforming a product or component into its basic materials or substances and reprocessing them into new (re)usable materials. This still uses machinery and processing that is harmful to the environment, although far less than landfilling and extracting virgin resources.
To read more about the WEEE Forum’s International E-waste Day please follow the link here: https://weee-forum.org/iewd-about/
We’d love to hear from you about how we can help each other to improve the circularity and sustainability of IT Assets - our contact details are:
📞 01376 503900
ICEX GROUP’s mission is to securely revive or relocate, and if necessary, recycle all our clients’ technology assets, to help achieve digital equality, and reduce E-waste to landfill.