The problem of electronic waste: we keep it because we don’t know where to throw it
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We have an average of 9. They are the electronic appliances that are broken or that we do not use but which we still keep at home. Technically it is WEEE, waste of electrical and electronic equipment: 81% say they have at least one still functioning but unused and 61% keep it, even if it is broken (among the latter, 33% are old mobile phones, 23% are chargers and 17% are laptops).
Weee: what they are and how to dispose of them
But why this accumulation syndrome? Hope is the last to die: 39% think they can repair it, while 30% think they can use spare parts but – beware – 23% still declare that they not knowing the correct disposal procedure and 15% have difficulty in reach a collection center. Many, in short, substantially equal to those who would like to repair them, they would like to get rid of it but they don’t know how. And then rightly instead of throwing them in the undifferentiated they keep them.
It is one of the scenarios painted by the investigation conducted by Ipsos and Erion on the occasion of the International E-Waste Day, October 14, and entitled “Weee and Rpa. Levels of knowledge, opinions and behaviors. What do Italians hide in their drawers?“(available here). Another, parallel, concerns the batteries: more than one in two Italians declare that they have exhausted batteries at home. The report was made on a sample of 1,400 Italian citizens (aged 18 to 75), using the CAWI, Computer Assisted Web Interview methodology.
One in six disposes of the WEEE in the undifferentiated sector
About the disposal procedurescompared to 63% of respondents who got rid of at least one waste of this kind in the last 12 months, one in six say they did it inappropriately, throwing it in the garbage bag, in the street bin or in the plastic bin. This is a huge problem: WEEE is special waste containing dozens of materials and components, from precious metals to rare earths, ranging treated in specific ways, which dispersed in the environment have an enormous polluting power but which, if properly recycled, constitute a real treasure. In the first places for incorrect conferment: hairdryer (22%), toaster And mixer (20%) e cell phone charger (18%), which hopefully will become less in the coming years thanks to the recent directive approved by the European Parliament. All of this, and it’s the worst news, despite the fact that 79% are aware of the environmental risks of wrong conferment.
Recycle
WEEE: 32 proposals to improve the disposal of electronic waste
by Fiammetta Cupellaro
Young people are bad: they do not know what they are talking about or what they risk
The level of knowledge of the Weee acronym with the is stable compared to 2021 44% of respondents who have already heard of it. The North is the area with the most informed citizens (47%), followed by the Center (46%), the South and the islands behind with 37%. Much remains to be done: without awareness there is no sensitization that holds. And the problem is that it is precisely young people, often the most intensive users of electronic devices, who are the most ignorant on the subject: 89% of 18-26-year-olds declare that they have at least one electrical or electronic device that is no longer in use and 73% of not having discarded it even if broken. The level of knowledge and awareness on the subject is also low: only 26% of young people know what the acronym WEEE means and 32% still do not know the environmental criticalities linked to incorrect conferment. A huge problem, if framed in perspective.
In fact, this information gap leads to serious consequences: four out of 10 young people they got rid of their charger by throwing it in the garbage bag, in the street bin or in the plastic bin. Even in terms of batteries and exhausted batteries, the 18-26 age group is not very virtuous, environmentalists in words but not in practice: only 39% know the risks of a wrong conferment and 70% keep them at home even once they are discharged.
Professional WEEE: over 90% collected and disposed of outside the official channels
What you need to improve: collection points close to home
In short, what is needed to improve the situation, which is still disheartening? 35% of Italians ask to increase the communication initiatives and the information campaignswhile 32% would like to see reported on products clear information about the procedures for granting the refusal. On the other hand, one of the main incentives for proper disposal is the presence of a collection point near home (28%): small ecological islands would be needed, especially in large cities, within walking distance and where to bring all the devices you have doubts about. Here, in the meantime, some useful information on the one-to-zero contribution.
“The picture that Ipsos presents to us is alarming: there are still too many WEEE and waste batteries and accumulators forgotten in the homes of Italians, waste which, if sent for proper recycling, could represent a strategic mine of raw materials of which our country is increasingly poor. More information is needed, this is clear – he explains Danilo Bonato, general manager of Erion, which is the main non-profit multi-consortium system born in 2020 from the merger of the Ecodom and Remedia consortia – it is important, however, that there is also more responsibility on the part of us citizens in making greater use of the services available to confer your equipment that is no longer used or no longer functional: keeping them forgotten in the drawers, in the attic or in the cellar is itself a gesture against the environment. This trend must be reversed. I appeal above all to young people: you who represent the future, set a good example! Recycling is essential. With a small gesture, in fact, we can reduce our ecological footprint avoiding damage to the planet as well as increasing our sources of supply of raw materials, easing Italy’s economic dependence on foreign countries “.
Separate waste collection is falling, but we are growing on the whole
Looking at the behavior of Italians in terms of sustainability, it is noted a downward trend compared to 2021 among those who declare that they often do separate waste collection (80% compared to 85%). And – despite the boom in refurbished device platforms, on all smartphones, and the choices of manufacturers in terms of assistance and spare parts – it is only 39% (-14%) who prefer to repair an object rather than replace it with a new one. The new generations are at least the most inclined to share, such as sharing and rental, and to purchase recycled and refurbished products.
A positive sign, on the other hand, for the recycling habits of Weee and Rpa, with a + 7% in the number of interviewees who declare that they often do separate collection. “The circular economy still struggles to find space in people’s everyday lives: in fact, the research we have carried out for Erion lacks full awareness that this process can be triggered precisely by the correct recycling of our waste – he comments. Alberta Della Bella, senior researcher Ipsos Public affairs – it is above all the new generations who reveal a more ideal than practical adherence to the good rules of sustainability, in particular when it comes to WEEE and Rpa. Informing that this waste is first of all resources and not simple waste is fundamental, even more so if we consider that waste related to electronic products is the one with the highest growth rate “.
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