14 October is International E-Waste Day!
These are figures that make you sit up and take notice: According to the UN, by 2021 every person on earth will produce an average of 7.6 kg of e-waste. That adds up to a waste mountain of over 57 million tonnes worldwide. Yet only one sixth of this is disposed of properly and in an environmentally sound manner. The consequences for the environment are serious.
Fortunately, the situation in Switzerland looks better: We are the European champion in taking back electrical appliances - and in some cases by a wide margin. In the last 30 years, no less than 1.2 million used electrical appliances have been collected and recycled in our country. This has not only made it possible to recycle more than 900,000 tonnes of valuable materials, but also to avoid 3,700 tonnes of pollutant emissions, thus reducing the annual environmental impact in Switzerland by 4%. It is not for nothing that Switzerland is considered a role model for many countries when it comes to implementing a well-functioning eRecycling system.
Appliances that are no longer used are often forgotten
But as impressive as these figures are: Even in Switzerland, e-waste is not always disposed of immediately. This is shown by a study conducted by the School of Applied Psychology at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland on behalf of SENS eRecycling. According to surveys by the WEEE Forum, the association of European take-back systems, there are on average 70 electrical appliances in a European household. As a rule, 11 of them are no longer needed. Extrapolated for Switzerland, that's over 40 million electrical appliances. Once these appliances are put in the drawer or the cellar, they often stay there. For weeks, months, years...
SENS eRecycling is therefore using International E-Waste Day to raise awareness of the issue and to draw attention to the "treasure" that lies dormant in our cellars, drawers and attics. So, don't just leave your electrical appliances that you no longer need lying around at home, but try to sell, give away or repair them even more consistently than before. Or - if all that is no longer possible - take them to the nearest disposal point even faster.