The consumer is the main pillar in the system of collection of electronic waste and used batteries in Slovakia. It is the consumer who decides if the electronic waste from households will end up in a landfill or if it will be recycled in a processing plant. Currently, the simplest […]

The consumer is the main pillar in the system of collection of electronic waste and used batteries in Slovakia. It is the consumer who decides if the electronic waste from households will end up in a landfill or if it will be recycled in a processing plant. Currently, the simplest possibility is to use a so-called ´take-back collection´ when the consumer hands over an old electrical appliance free of charge in the shop when buying a new one.

We are increasing the proportion of sorted waste components

ASEKOL SK has come up with a unique solution for simplifying the collection of electronic waste. “From our own experience, we know that if you have e.g. an old iron or a hair-drier at home, only a small group of people will look for a collection place for such devices or call a mobile collection service. In order to prevent electronic waste from ending up in municipal waste, we have launched a project with red-and-white containers for small electronic waste which were missing in the waste separation system,” Ronald Blaho, the executive officer of ASEKOL SK, explained the reason for implementation of the project. The idea of the project is based on the fact that people separate (but not only) electronic waste mainly when it is simple. Thanks to stationary containers which are located at busy and easily accessible places, a new possibility has arisen for efficient and simple disposal of small electronic waste from households. “The red-and-white containers project is focused on the consumer. Its main idea is to facilitate handing over small electronic waste by offering places intended for such purpose that are close to people,” says Blaho.

Local governments need not worry about operating costs

More than 70 local governments are already involved in the project, including large cities as well as small municipalities. “Mayors and members of municipal councils often worry that they will not be able to bear the costs related to operation of the project. But the project is free of charge for local governments and for the people; it is financed by us as a producer responsibility organisation representing producers and importers of electronic equipment, batteries and accumulators,” the company´s executive officer describes the project’s operation.

One of the local governments which are involved in the project is the town of Sliač which appreciates the project very much. In 2020 the citizens of the town brought over 1,500 kilograms of electronic waste to the red-and-white containers. Iveta Lechová from the Department of Construction and Environment of the town of Sliač appreciates also the legislative benefit of the project. “The project is very beneficial, not only for legislative reasons but also due to the fact that citizens are now able to put waste where it belongs and it does not to end up in waste bins for mixed municipal waste, and subsequently in a landfill or in the countryside,” Lechová says, adding that “it is obvious that the project contributes considerably to environmental protection”.

Is it important to recycle electronic waste?

Do you know how much water you can save by recycling 1,500 kilograms of small electronic waste? Approximately the same amount that would be needed for 1,680 people to have a shower, or the amount of petrol which an average car would consume during a 2,025-kilometre-long journey.

Waste management grows every year together with increasing waste production. That is a “side product” of an increasing living standard and the expansion of consumerism. Companies dealing with waste management therefore play an increasingly important role also in environmental protection.

If there is no container for electronic waste in your local municipality and you do not want to exchange your old electronic equipment for something new, you may use specialised collection points which are often located at offices, post offices or in shops. Another alternative is to use mobile collection services or to take electronic waste to collection centres where electronic waste should be accepted free of charge, although their accessibility is not always ideal.

Are you interested in electronic waste collection via red-and-white containers and you want to know more? Visit cervenobielekontajnery.sk.