Batteries, old phones and broken appliances need to be recycled and disposed of properly. Now you can at these stores!
‘Fess up. We all have that box of old mobile phones, dead batteries and gadgets stashed away somewhere, never to see the light again. Most of the time, we’re not quite sure what to do with e-waste – that’s broken or dead electrical appliances and electronics for you. Proper disposal of e-waste is super important to prevent environmental degradation and potential threats to human health.
Now you can toss your e-junk at any Best Denki, Courts, Gain City and Harvey Norman electronic megastore. The move is part of a newly signed agreement that sees the four companies joining the REcycling Nation’s Electronic Waste (Renew) program. It’s been a long time coming as the National Environment Agency have been hard at work, working closely with industry partners and communities to encourage proper recycling and disposal of e-waste.
Prior to this, renew bins of e-waste are already provided in select locations islandwide and their contents are collected and recycled, with valuable parts extracted and harmful substances treated. Now that it’s accessible at these mainstream stores, there’s no more excuse to be hoarding old bust-up phones. Want to hear a horror story? In Singapore alone, 60,000 tonnes of e-waste is produced every year, and only about 6% of this is actually recycled properly.
With the digital lifestyle continuing to accelerate in Singapore, we can only assume that the same will happen for e-waste growth. Now it’s time to bring out that dusty box from the store room…