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A trial scheme run in the Special Administrative Region is already bearing fruit, only three months in.
The e-waste collection and recycling trial scheme run by Macau’s Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) has already collected over seven and a half thousand items in its first three months, reports the Macau News Agency.
Between the 9th of October and the 31st of December last year, 7,646 items were collected, including 1,317 home computers, 261 printers, and 43 digital scanners. A further 4,939 items, categorised as ‘diverse’, included ink and toner cartridges, as well as typewriters, fax machines, memory cards, and keyboards.
During the scheme’s run, the DSPA set up four collection points, in Macau, Taipa, and Seac Pai Van, and provided a collection van also, which was parked in 16 different areas of the city on a rotating schedule. The organisation speculates that the total rate of recycling may be as high as 90 percent, adding that collected items will be “processed according to the procedures for cross-border movements stipulated in the Basel Convention.”
The majority of items collected are set to be dismantled by Sociedade Chong Heng Vannex (Macau), the company running the scheme, with recyclable components and materials then transported to be recycled further into other resources elsewhere. The most recent models of computer collected will be donated to local charity associations, after appropriate repairs.
The trial scheme is set to run until September 2018, with forecasts predicting collection totals of 50,000 items, and 7,000 tonnes of material. Following the trial’s conclusion, a public tender will be opened to run the scheme thereafter.
