File photo shows a resident disposing of his e-waste during the ‘E-Waste Recycling Campaign 2015’ in Sibu.
SIBU: A comprehensive management system for proper disposal of electronic waste in the country is being worked out, says Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
According to him, the move is necessary to prevent indiscriminate dumping of such waste, which could pollute the environment if not handled properly.
“My ministry is working with the Japan Cooperation Agency (Jica) to come up with a home-to-recycle system,” he told thesundaypost yesterday.
Bernama recently reported that Malaysia would soon receive its first machine to recycle electrical and electronic goods waste (e-waste) after local company Shan Poornam Metals Sdn Bhd signed a purchase agreement with German-based Andritz MeWa GmBH.
Wan Junaidi was quoted as having said that the machine — the first of its kind in the country and capable of recycling 100,000 tonnes of household e-waste a year — would operate in stages, beginning June next year.
The machine could recycle e-waste comprising used computer parts and mobile phones, as well as other home appliances that are no longer wanted.
On this, Wan Junaidi said Shan Poornam Metals was only into recycling, reusing, reducing and recovering parts.
“Our planned management system, on the other hand, will include a system of collection, distribution, fees, recycling and regulations from the factory of the electrical/electronic goods to the factory of reusable materials/substances recovered,” he said.
In this town, locals would dispose of their e-waste during recycling campaigns.
It is reported that there are over 66 million mobile phones in Malaysia alone. When no longer in use, these phones together with discarded computer tablets, USB thumbdrives and other kinds of electronic devices pose a danger to the environment if their disposal is not handled properly.
Such gadgets must be properly disposed of. Many users would just throw them into dustbins and these discarded devices would end up in landfills where the minerals and materials inside them would leak out.