Singapore e-Waste Recycling Facts & Statistics - SellUp - Blogs
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Singapore e-Waste Recycling Facts & Statistics

Introduction

The National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore has released the results of a study looking into the e-waste disposal patterns of consumers in the city.

The study, conducted from April 2016 to October 2017, was aimed at identifying the challenges in Singapore’s management of e-waste, and developing a comprehensive system to address these challenges.

Findings

  • Each Singaporean discarded about 11kg of e-waste – equal to 73 mobile phone - annually
 
  • Singapore is the second-largest generator of e-waste in the region – about 60,000 tonnes of e-waste (equivalent to the weight of 220 Airbus A380 airplanes) was produced each year. 
 
  • 114kg of electrical and electronic items are being thrown away every minute in Singapore. 
 
  • Singapore recycles only 6% of the 60,000 tonnes of e-waste – the rest is incinerated. The collection target for these devices is 20%. 
Recycle truck
  • In a survey conducted by the National Environment Agency (NEA), 60% of consumers do not know or are unsure of how to recycle e-waste. 
 
  • The most common way of getting rid of e-waste: Trade-in / re-sold, thrown away, passed to deliverymen upon receiving new product
 
  • 80% of the e-waste comes from Washing machines, refrigerators, and television sets. The remainder includes air-conditioners, computers, printers, and mobile phones. 

Conclusion

These numbers indicate Singapore’s infrastructure for managing e-waste is “lagging behind” the rate of e-waste generation, despite efforts to boost the recycling rate.

NEA recently announced a framework to tackle the e-waste by 2021. It involves the active participation of stakeholders, such as the Government, producers of electrical and electronic equipment, retailers, recyclers, and consumers, which is necessary to ensure that e-waste can be managed effectively and efficiently.

As a consumer, we can do our part by consuming less and choose to repair instead of replace our electronic. Every small action we take will mean a greater impact to the next generation. 

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