Recycling: tough fight against mountains of electronic waste
According to current figures, around 136,500 tons of old electrical devices and around 2,830 tons of old device batteries were collected in Austria last year. For batteries, this corresponds to an increase of almost 20 percent compared to 2019, for small electrical appliances it was 8.5 percent, as it was said at a press conference on Thursday.
The latest figures were presented by the waste electrical equipment coordination office Austria GmbH (EAK) together with the Ministry of the Environment, the Chamber of Commerce (WKO) and the ARGE Austrian Waste Management Associations (ARGE AWV) in Vienna. The EU is a collection quota of 45 percent, as it was met around 2019, it said.
More is being bought
With more than 2,800 tons of old batteries and a rate of 48 percent, this was “significantly exceeded” last year, said Christian Holzer, Section Head in the Ministry of the Environment, at the press conference.
According to the figures presented there, the quota for old devices was not fully met. There the target value is 65 percent and – as before in 2019 – was just missed with 62 percent. Nevertheless, one is “on the right track” here too, it said in a broadcast on Thursday. Finally, it should be borne in mind that the “masses placed on the market”, ie the quantities that were sold, have increased – because of more (entertainment) electronics in the coronavirus pandemic. The bottom line, according to Holzer, is that Austria, with his quote, is “still in the top European field”.
From e-bikes to robotic lawn mowers
The fact that more little ones have found the way to recycling instead of ending up in the garbage can also contributed more information, as the managing director of the EAK, Elisabeth Giehser, is convinced. She referred, for example, to the “Small, but oho” campaign, which in recent years has succeeded in raising the awareness of consumers that “small and small devices should not be thrown into the residual waste, but rather these in stores or at municipal collection points to submit “. In addition, with around 2,000 municipal collection points, there is a “very good infrastructure” and “safe and reliable collection systems”.
However, Giehser also pointed to the rapidly increasing sales figures for e-bikes, whose batteries would have an average lifespan of five to seven years, and that the problem would also get bigger in the next few years. The same applies to battery-powered garden tools, such as robotic lawnmowers, which are enjoying increasing numbers.
Resolutions in recycling
According to the microcensus by Statistics Austria (2020 figures), 96.4 percent of Austrians state that they correctly separate “waste electrical and electronic equipment” from residual waste. For batteries or rechargeable batteries, the figure is 97.2 percent. The numbers are quickly as high as for glass (97.3 percent) and higher than for plastic bottles (92.8), metal packaging (90.9) and organic waste (85.4). The front runner is clearly recovered paper with 99.2 percent.
Praise for the domestic collection system came on Thursday from the Vice President of the ARGE Austrian Waste Management Associations, Roland Wohlmuth. In a European comparison, Austria has “a very collection rate and at the same time it is in the lower third with high specific collection and treatment”, he said, highlighting the “smoothly functioning collection system” and the close cooperation between municipalities and business. After all, five percent of the collected quantities would come “via the municipal waste material collection centers, recycling yards or dung sites of associations, cities and municipalities”, the remaining 15 percent via retailers or direct disposal points of manufacturers.
Short service life
Why isn’t more being collected? There is more and more electrical and electronic waste, at the same time the useful life is decreasing, said Robert Pfarrwaller, chairman of the federal committee for electrical and furniture retailers in the WKO. The average duration of use is around six years, which makes it increasingly difficult to meet the collection quotas that have now reached “unrealistic dimensions”.
In addition, the lockdowns caused by the coronavirus triggered a real boom in online trading, with more computer hardware being sold due to home office, homeschooling and distance learning. Due to the growing number of obsolete devices that are coming onto the market through online trading, the WKO is once again calling for manufacturers to practice more efficient return and information.
The mountain is growing rapidly
The collection of old devices and batteries will definitely remain “an enormous challenge for all EU countries,” said the press conference broadcast. There is “not only a need for action on an economic and political level”, but also “a conscious change in behavior” among consumers – that is why the decision was made in June for the two-year nationwide information campaign “Her mit Leer”, which is also part of the Involve several large retail chains, including new collection boxes.
The mountain of electronic waste produced worldwide is growing rapidly overall, according to a UN from the previous year. For 2019 the “Global E-Waste Monitor 2020” of the United Nations showed 53.6 million tons and thus a new high. Part of it ends up in developing countries and is cannibalized there under conditions that are harmful to health.
The total amount of discarded devices, from refrigerators to PCs, monitors and TV sets to smartphones, has grown by 21 percent within five, it said. The quantities correspond roughly to the volume of around 350 large cruise ships such as the “Queen Mary 2”. The UN stated the material value of the entire mountain at 57 billion dollars (today almost 49 billion euros).