By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, April 23: GVE Strategic Waste Sdn Bhd, a registered e-waste contractor under Department of Environment (DOE) Sarawak has paid about RM30,000 to members of the public in exchange for their unwanted e-waste held at MBKS Community Hall until 12pm today.
The two-day event started at 8am yesterday (April 22) and saw many cars queuing up and dropping their e-waste at the venue in exchange for cash up to RM2 or RM3 per item on average.
Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng said the Electrical and Electronic Waste (E-Waste) Collection Campaign 2022 will continue until 5pm today.
Thus, he encouraged members of the public to come forward with their e-waste and earn some cash instead of keeping it at home.
The campaign aims to address e-waste by setting up a collection point at targeted places for disposal purposes in compliance with the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
Wee explained that there are serious environmental risks if e-waste is sent to a landfill.
“Disposal of e-waste at landfills could cause leachate pollution of the surface and groundwater as the heavy metals dissolve in the soil, negatively impacting humans, animals, and aquatic and marine life.
“Besides, in e-waste, precious metals can be recovered and reused to reduce dependence on natural resources that need to be mined. Environmentally-friendly e-waste management could help the government reduce e-waste at our landfills,” he said when launching the programme today.
The event was jointly organised by Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) Sarawak and the DOE Sarawak in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, Housing and Local Government (MPHLG), Ministry of Natural Resources and Urban Development, MBKS, Kuching North City Commission (DBKU), and Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) in conjunction with Earth Day 2022.
The world produces as much as 50 million tonnes of e-waste a year, and only 20 per cent is formally recycled.
The e-waste produced annually is worth over $62.5 billion, more than the GDP of most countries, according to a report by the United Nations (UN) in 2019.
Based on statistical data from 2021 Global E-Waste Control, 57.4 million metric tons of electrical and electronic device waste was generated worldwide in 2021.
In Sarawak, a total of 73.4 metric tonnes of e-waste was collected in 2020 and 15.2 metric tonnes in 2021.
Meanwhile, during an e-waste collection programme conducted recently, on March 26, 2022, at Desa Guru Kuching, 20.35 metric tonnes of e-waste were collected. — DayakDaily
