Make e-waste recycling easy

According 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.

That’s why we launched this exciting initiative and are working on making sure these bins are accessible to the wider public.”

“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.

You can find your closest e-waste recycling bin here: E-Bin Locator | ASTRecycling