Saturday October 13 heralded the world’s first International e-Waste Day. The inaugural day was an initiative of the WEEE Forum (Waste Electrical and Electronic Forum) which is a not-for-profit association of 36 WEEE producer responsibility organisations around the world, including ANZRP.
It is estimated that 50 million tonnes of e-waste will be generated globally in 2018. Only 20% of this is recycled each year, which means that 40 million tonnes of e-waste is either placed in landfill, burned or illegally traded and treated in a sub-standard way, despite 66% of the world’s population being covered by e-waste legislation.
In the wake of China and Thailand’s import bans, and reports of illegal e-waste exports, it is crucial to educate Australians that an environmentally responsible e-waste recycling solution exists.
The event was an opportunity to espouse the values of responsible e-waste recycling and position ANZRP as a leader in the industry, being the only Australian organisation represented. This was achieved through a social media campaign and targeted media release, which received moderate success on a national and international basis, given it was the event’s first year. We anticipate a more robust campaign in 2019.