Wenmix Chan Kwok Ho, who heads the Environmental Protection Bureau’s Environmental Infrastructure Management Centre (DSPA), told reporters on Tuesday that the bureau has recycled 45,132 used ICT (information and communications technology) products and electrical household appliances since the launch of the bureau’s “Electronic and Electrical Equipment Recycling Programme” in January.
Chan revealed the statistics after a media tour of the dismantling plant of the bureau’s contractor Vannex International Limited – a Hong Kong company – in Pac On on Tuesday.
The centre launched a pilot scheme for the recycling of ICT products in October 2017. At the beginning of this year, the bureau extended the scheme to electrical household appliances.
According to the bureau’s website, the ICT items in the recycling scheme include desktops, laptops, LCD/LED monitors and televisions, cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors and televisions. The bureau also recycles home appliances such as fridges, air conditioners, washing machines, dishwashers, dehumidifiers, and radiators.
Chan said that after collecting used household appliances, staff at the dismantling plant test them for 24 hours. If they turn out to be reusable and meet all the bureau’s safety requirements, they will be donated to charities and people in need. According to Chan, about 10 “suitable” home appliances have been donated to families in need since January.
In the first seven months of the scheme, Chan said that the bureau collected 45,132 ICT products and home appliances, adding that the bureau had collected around 15,000 large household appliances. He pointed out that the scheme’s door-to-door collection service was “more well-received than expected” but he stressed that the dismantling plant could still process more electrical items.
Pang Sum Chuen, a staff member of Vannex International Limited, pointed out that electrical items that do not satisfy the bureau’s requirements will be dismantled. He underlined that the dismantling process includes recording the items, dissembling them, breaking them down into different parts before finally smashing them into pieces.
Pang also said that under the Basel Convention, the recyclable parts of the electrical items are being shipped to regions and countries that have suitable equipment to reuse the parts for other purposes.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) website, the overarching objective of the Basel Convention is to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes.
According to the bureau’s website, while there are 19 recycling locations on the Macao peninsula and Taipa, people can also make an appointment to have their large home appliances picked up at the door.
Additional information is available in Portuguese and Chinese.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
PHOTO © The Macau Post Daily
