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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Think(ing) Green Thursday # 20 - E-Waste


This is a recycle bin for the collection of handphone batteries placed in front of a retail outlet, near to the cinema area at the AEON Shopping Complex in Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang. The word RECYCLE at the top of the bin has been written in 4 different languages, Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil.

What is E-Waste?

According to the Department of Environment, Malaysia, E-Waste is defined as waste from the assembly of electrical or electronic appliances that consist of components such as accumulators, mercury-switches, glass from cathode-ray tubes and other activated glass or polychlorinated biphenyl-capacitors, or contaminated with cadmium, mercury, lead, nickel, chromium, copper, lithium, silver, manganese or polychlorinated biphenyl.

E-Waste also represent component of waste from the following appliances than can no longer be used:
Television, Radio, Air-Condition
Computer
Printer
Photostat Machine
Facsimile Machine
Washing Machine
Telephone
Video Camera Record/Recording (VCR)
Stereo/Audio Device
Electronic Game Device
Pendaflour light
Oven/Microwave
Refrigerator
Digital Clock

The signage on the bin here tells us that handphone batteries contains the following:
a) Lithium-ion (Li-ion)
b) Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd)
c) Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH)
d) Lead (Pb)

The message further tells us that:
Incomplete disposal will affect health and pollute the environment. If we preserve the environment, good health is guaranteed.
This bin belongs to Majlis Perbandaran Klang or our local Klang City Municipal Council.


Besides the handphone batteries, the public has also deposited other items such as used ordinary dry cell batteries, camera batteries, compact discs and diskettes.

I think this is a good way to encourage people to recycle used electronic items in a proper manner. Otherwise we will dump them into the trash bins and later it will be sent to a landfill.

I also wish that big corporate giants will take the initiative to produce quality products that can last a long time. I personally think that this is a good example of social responsibility. As we know, currently, electrical and electronic goods do not last long. This will result in a lot of rubbish which may be toxic too. Not everyone will take the trouble to bring e-waste to recycle bins. Our rubbish collecters are not trained and do not separate such wastes, neither do many of us know how to. Our landfills are limited and it will be fully utilised soon.

Where else can we dump these wastes?
Do you know where does the e-waste go to?
Are you practicing recycling in your daily lives?


This is my entry for Think Green Thursday #20. My grateful thanks to Rambling Woods for making this possible. To view what others around the world have to say or to participate, visit here.

5 comments:

  1. that's nice..don't think we have it in ipoh..

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  2. this is a great service. I don't believe I have ever seen a battery collection bin here.

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  3. The hard disk of my Dell PC died two years ago. Dell offers to collect e-waste too, but the trouble is we need to mail the electronic devices back to the factory.

    Until now the faulty hard disk is still in my room.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Autumn Belle.. We are on the same wave length!! This is a wonderful idea and I don't know if we have something like this. I think we have to wait until there is some special event held and then take it. This is such a simple yet important idea.. Thank you for posting this to Thinking Green.. Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very informative post. We have general battery disposal bins in our city but they are very few and far between. I have a pile that I keep forgetting to bring with me on my next trip in that direction.

    ReplyDelete

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Thank you very much for visiting my blog.

Autumn Belle

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