The UK government’s annual Greening Government ICT report showed that well over 50% of e-waste that has been created by local government authorities is being reused. As the report indicates, out of 2.3 million kilograms of electronic waste created by departments, 1.25 million kilograms have been successfully reused or given to charity. Furthermore, over 45% of the waste was successfully recycled and recovered, leaving 36000 kilograms of electronic waste, by volume, on the landfill.
The report communicates that the strategy set out in 2020 – to have zero landfills by 2025 – is well on track, based on the data collected so far.
California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is planning to set in motion a new e-waste recycling program. Current recycling program has 37 siloed recycling applications. As department stated, the main issue with the current program is its inefficiency. The program is paper-based, which requires staff to spend almost half of their work time on data entry. As the activity of recyclers is expected to rise by 35% in the following months, CalRecycle suggested a more autonomous, software-based program. New program would focus on one enterprise-wide system that can track, regulate, and monitor recyclables. It is expected to lower the overall costs of recycling, while providing a more user-friendly experience.
British Metal Recycling Association (BMRA) stated that households should be banned from disposing electrical equipment, devices, and lithium-ion batteries in roadside collection bins. The warning from the Association came just a few days after several fires sparked, as assumed, due to poorly disposed batteries.
It is proposed that local governments introduce separate curbside collection sites, so all e-waste can be properly handled and disposed by professionals, completely removing domestic households from the equation in recycling batteries.
As the officials from BMRA suggested, the matter is becoming urgent, as the data collected from the Environmental Services Association found that lithium-ion batteries are responsible for almost 50% of all waste fires that occur in the UK each year.
