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Belgium managed to collect more than 117,000 tons of e-waste

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

Belgian households own more than 70 appliances each, on average, of which 10 are no longer in use....

On average, a Belgian family owns more than 70 appliances, out of which 10 are no longer being used, reveals a study by Recupel, an e-waste recycling company. In 2018, Recupel managed to collect more than 117,000 tons of e-waste; around 10.3 kg per Belgian. After the survey, the company pointed out that, if every Belgian family turned in one appliance they no longer needed, in just one year, around five million appliances could have a second chance at being used. This could reduce the need to purchase new electronics, thus decreasing the amount of e-waste.

Out of the total e-waste amount, 9.7 million light bulbs were sent to recycling centers, after Recupel pointed out that 92% of a lightbulb can be recycled.

Recupel goes on to mention that, in 2018, 226,524 refrigerators and freezers went off the grid. Given the fact that Belgians purchased 686,459 new fridges and freezers in the same period, this means around 30% of these replaced goods ended up in a landfill somewhere

The problem comes, as Saar Bentein, PR specialist at Recupel, says, from the fact that scrapyard owners still don’t have the proper technology to dismantle and recover metals from electronics. This causes gases and other chemicals to escape and contribute to pollution.

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