Earth Day. Romanians generate 100,000 tons of electronic waste per year. Only 35% is recycled

The problem is that in Romania the collection rate reaches 35%, in the most optimistic estimates, while the European average is 45.9% at the level of 2020. Most often, Romanians recycle washing machines (70.67 %), and mobile phones are the hardest to part with (11%), according to the data of the ENVIRON Association, one of the most important organizations in our country that recycles WEEE.

On the occasion of Earth Day (April 22), ENVIRON representatives sound the alarm and say that the time has come for electronics recycling to be part of the education of Romanians, as is the case in civilized EU countries.

In the 16 years of activity, ENVIRON has collected over 160,000 tons of electrical and electronic equipment waste. Last year alone, 39,343 tons of WEEE were collected and recycled. At the top are washing machines (70.67%), refrigerators (12.1%), televisions and monitors (8.71%), respectively small equipment (7.13%). In total, ENVIRON managed 1,436,555 WEEE last year. Most are part of the category of small waste (561,030 pieces). Next are washing machines (560,520 units), televisions and monitors (228,451 units) and refrigerators (86,554 units).

Electrical and electronic objects such as mobile phones, laptops and other small waste are the least handed in for recycling. “One explanation is that Romanians, especially seniors, have a hard time giving up the electrical and electronic equipment they have. And when it comes to the small ones, such as mobile phones and cables, chargers, cameras, electronic cigarettes, etc., I found that many times they don’t even realize that they are still waste and that’s why they don’t give them to recycling, they prefer to keep them in drawers or even worse, to throw them in the trash”, said Roxana Puia, Marketing Manager at ENVIRON.

It is very important, however, that, when they can no longer be repaired, electrical and electronic equipment be recycled and not simply thrown in the trash, in order not to become hazardous waste, say ENVIRON representatives, who show that old refrigerators, for example, they contain fichlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs), substances that damage the ozone layer, a problem associated with the climate imbalance of the planet, respectively with serious ailments caused to people, including decreased immunity.

At the same time, a smartphone contains around 30 different components, some of them on the way to exhaustion (gallium, silver or arsenic), others (lead, mercury, cadmium) being very dangerous if they are thrown into the landfill . In turn, old televisions and monitors contain heavy metals that can cause serious ailments, such as lead, cadmium, barium oxide, strontium oxide, europium, yttrium or mercury.

“The bad news is that all the substances from the electronic equipment brought to the landfill end up in the ground and affect the water table, with a terrible impact on the health of people and animals. The good news is that at least 85% of this equipment can be recycled. The quality of our lives, of all of us, depends on our actions. Recycling waste, regardless of its nature, must be a natural, normal and responsible gesture”, added Roxana Puia.

Home collection campaigns are more successful in rural areas

At the level of Romania, there are currently no relevant statistical data on the collection of WEEE in the urban environment vs. rural areas, but ENVIRON’s experience shows that, in rural areas, home collection campaigns are more successful than in cities.

“How is this explained? On the one hand, people from the urban environment have less storage space than those from the countryside. On the other hand, they have easier access to other solutions, for example retail, or sanitation, for the management of WEEE”, explains Roxana Puia.

In the 450 collection actions carried out between 2018-2022 as part of the Romania Recycle campaign, in approximately 150 localities, at the national level, ENVIRON teams collected over a thousand tons of electronic waste. At the top are televisions and monitors (approx. 16,000 pieces), IT equipment (over 5,700), refrigerators (over 2,100), washing machines (over 1,500), respectively almost 9,000 other types of WEEE.

On average, the ENVIRON teams collected 2-3 tons of waste electrical and electronic equipment from each locality where such actions take place, together with the local authorities. The largest quantities were collected in towns such as Bălești (Gorj), Berceni (Prahova), Videle (Teleorman) – 9 tons per edition, Hârşova (Constanța) – 7 tons, Mizil (Prahova) – 4 tons, Balan ( Harghita) – 3 tons of sand.

The ENVIRON Association is a non-governmental and non-profit organization, established in 2007, which has assumed the objective of taking over the responsibility of manufacturers and importers of electrical and electronic equipment regarding the collection and recycling of these products at the end of their life cycle. It currently operates over 4,000 collection points nationwide.

In its 16 years of activity, it has collected over 160,000 tons of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), a quantity that increases every year. For example, in 2020 25,000 tons were collected, in 2021 over 39,000 tons, and this year it aims to exceed this amount and continue to be involved in actions to educate the population.