E-WASTE
Making e-waste recycling easy
To help battle the rising tide of e-waste in South Africa, AST Recycling developed an e-waste recycling bin, which accepts electronic items such as cell phones and laptops.
Illustration of AST Recycling’s electronic waste recycling process
A
ccording to the e-Waste Association of South Africa, South Africa generates about 6.2 kg of e-waste per inhabitant annually and only 12% of that is recycled. The circumstances are further aggravated by the fact that, as of 23 August 2021, it is illegal to dispose of any types of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to landfill in South Africa. This means that companies must partner with a licensed recycler of WEEE, ensuring that they take responsibility for the life cycle of the products they put into the market, right through to post-consumer waste disposal. To help curb the surge of e-waste and promote the effective recycling of electronics in South Africa, AST Recycling has partnered with Leroy Merlin to roll out the installation of e-waste recycling bins at all four of the DIY retailer’s stores. The AST e-waste bin is custom designed to securely contain the waste until the bin is full, then the recycling company will send a truck to collect the contents. Rodney Peters, head: IT Asset Disposal Recycling at AST Recycling, asserts that there’s an urgent need to prioritise the recycling of e-waste, considering that South Africa is quickly running out of landfill airspace. “There’s a huge gap in the market for recycling e-waste,” he says. “People know and understand that it’s important to recycle and properly dispose of potentially harmful electronic components but finding a recycling point has always been nearly impossible.
36
M AY 2 0 2 2
|
ReSource
That’s why we launched this exciting initiative and are working on making sure these bins are accessible to the wider public.”
360° solutions Established in 2013, AST Recycling is the only ISO 9001, 14001, 27001 and 45001 certified e-waste and spent automotive catalytic converter recycling company in South Africa. Its services also include a full turnkey solution of IT asset management, IT refurbishment and IT asset disposal. “As recyclers, we are dedicated to working towards a circular electronic waste economy. Moving away from the linear take-make-waste system, AST Recycling is committed to the circular economy, and we are active at every step to reduce, reuse, repair and recycle,” says Peters.
The company’s service offering includes: E-Waste Collection: AST Recycling team collects electronic waste from the organisation and transports it to a recycling facility – where it will be repurposed, repaired or recycled. Data Sanitisation: The data sanitisation solution offered by AST is compliant with the US Department of Defense standard for data sanitisation, DOD 5220.22-M. Free Certificates: Free Data Destruction and E-Waste Disposal certificates are issued on request. Sustainable Recycling: The AST recycling solutions help to conserve natural resources and reduce the amount of e-waste accumulating in landfills. “Our team will not only recycle your electronics in an environmentally sound
1 2 3 4
