DHL joins e-waste recycling programme

SINGAPORE — DHL Express has come on board to join local telco StarHub and electronic waste (e-waste) recycler TES-AMM’s e-waste recycling programme, that will expand its e-waste bins from the current 30 locations to a hundred by the end of this year.

Named REcycling Nation’s Electronic Waste (RENEW), the programme hopes that the broadened reach across the island will give the public many opportunities to safely dispose of unwanted electronic devices and equipment like mobile phones, cable modems and laptops for free.

Their ultimate aim is to roll out hundreds of bins at educational institutions, major malls, government offices, office buildings and community clubs in two to three years time, with constant monitoring of the public response and adoption.

Speaking at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the three partners earlier this morning, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan reiterated the importance of recycling e-waste as well educating the public on the issue.

“But the real test for the future is not whether (organisations) do this out of corporate social responsibility...but whether this becomes viable and generates positive value.” he added

StarHub and TES-AMM pioneered the island’s first e-waste recycling programme during Earth Hour two years ago, which collected nearly 2,700kg in the first year alone and has seen a subsequent increase to 6,500kg in 2013. To date, 5,600kg of e-waste has been collected this year.

According to data collected by the National Environment Agency, Singapore produces about 60,000 tonnes of electronic waste annually, with about half coming from households and the rest from industrial sources.