International e-Waste Day – Join the Hunt!
The average life expectancy of a mid-range laptop is three to five years. If you start using one at age eighteen and retire from screen time at sixty-five, you’ll need at least nine computers in your lifetime. You’ll also always need a smartphone, a Wi-Fi router, and an assortment of chargers.
Today, we generate e-waste five times faster than we can recycle it. In 2022 alone, that figure was 62 billion kilograms. That’s over seven times more than the world population.
In response to this alarming data, the WEEE Forum has launched International e-Waste Day – a day dedicated to tackling the e-waste problem one device at a time. We celebrate International e-Waste Day on 14 October every year. In 2024, it’s all about hunting down your forgotten electronics.
This Year’s Theme: Retrieve, Recycle, and Revive!
The WEEE Forum strives to make e-waste recycling fun and engaging for everyone. This year, the organisation is turning e-Waste Day into a massive e-waste Easter egg hunt. Most people are guilty of electronics hoarding – keeping broken or unused devices in their homes instead of recycling them. On 14 October 2024, we encourage you to do a bit of spring cleaning.
Examples of e-waste to hunt for include: adapters for ancient phone chargers, cables nobody knows how to use, dead load-shedding lamps, and forgotten USB drives. You can send these items to a recycler or take them to an e-waste buy-back centre to make some extra cash!
E-Waste Day is not only about recycling – you can also join the festivities by donating used appliances, computers, and tablets to the less fortunate. If they’re not in working condition, professional refurbishment will give them a second life.
Recycle e-Waste and WIN! Travel Prize Up for Grabs.
To make the e-waste hunt more exciting, the WEEE Forum is running an international social media competition on 14 and 15 October. To enter, all you have to do is post a photo of your electronics junk drawer on Facebook, Instagram, X, or LinkedIn, fill in the entry form, and take your e-waste to a collection point of your choice.
The winner will receive a 7-day Eurail train pass valued at R7,500! The ticket includes unlimited travel between 33 European countries, allowing you to explore dozens of dream destinations in one week. For more information about the contest, please email the WEEE Forum directly.
Other Ways to Get Involved
In 2023, over 190 companies from 55 countries participated in International E-Waste Day. Schools, businesses, NPOs, universities, community groups, and religious organisations – anyone can get involved! The goal is to raise awareness about e-waste recycling. Need ideas? Try some of these.
E-waste collection drives
Electronics producers subject to EPR can use an e-waste collection drive as a tool to help them fulfil their environmental duties. Collection points could be simple tents set up at schools, shops, restaurants, religious buildings, or office parks to attract the most attention. To make the drive more successful, you could offer cash incentives, store discounts, entertainment vouchers, and other freebies.
Schools and community groups could run a collection drive to gather second-hand IT equipment for underprivileged families. Anything that can’t be salvaged gets recycled at a buy-back centre, with all the proceeds going to charity.
Events and fundraising
You can pair an e-waste collection drive with a recycling-themed social event to make things more fun. In the spirit of this year’s theme, consider hosting a real-life e-waste hunt with refurbished electronics as prizes. Alternatively, you could also host live music shows, comedy, speakers, and art exhibitions, charging the audience a kilogram of e-waste as an entrance fee. Get creative – the possibilities are endless!
If you need event sponsors, try reaching out to electronics producers and recycling companies. These strategic partnerships will benefit the waste sector too, driving business to their doors and supporting the infrastructure we need to increase our recycling rates.
Social media campaigns
If you don’t have the cash to host a live event, host one online instead! Social media is free and allows you to reach a much bigger audience than your immediate community. This International e-Waste Day, consider using your platforms to promote electronics recycling. You could write a blog post, share a video, or spotlight local recycling businesses to raise awareness.
Businesses can even run their own recycling competitions in tandem with the WEEE Forum’s contest, raising awareness in local circles. Remember, competitions are all about winning, so make sure you have lots of worthy prizes on offer! Think repair vouchers, refurbished gadgets, and products from sustainable businesses.
Register Your Organisation as an Official Participant
This year, we want to see even more South African businesses participating in e-Waste Day. Producers, recyclers, media, NGOs, and collectors can register their campaigns on the WEEE Forum website for international media coverage. Let’s show the world what we’ve got!
eWASA is a registered producer responsibility organisation for the electrical and electronics sector. For more information about e-waste recycling or for help setting up your e-Waste Day campaign, please get in touch.
