ELECTRONIC WASTE RECYCLING SHOWS PROMISE FOR SKILLS TRAINING

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ELECTRONIC WASTE RECYCLING SHOWS PROMISE FOR
SKILLS TRAINING
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Addressing Our Growing E-Waste Problem
We all know by now that reducing waste, reusing
everyday items for other purposes, and recycling
components of our waste is better for our
struggling environment. This is certainly true of
our electronic waste we are all eager to obtain
the next device when it becomes available, but
what becomes of the ones we discard? Images of
waste dumps, such as from the recently infamous
Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana, are disturbing
reminders of the frequent answer to that
question. Too often, the reaction to images such
as Agbogbloshie is to ban dumping in areas such
as this instead of seeking a better answer to the
problem.
http//www.allgreenrecycling.com
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There are better solutions that might work for
places like Agbogbloshie, and Tony Sharp, founder
and Social Enterprise Development Manger of
Substation33, under parent organization YFS, has
perhaps found one in Australia. Substation33 is
providing a safe, healthy process for proper
electronic waste recycling.
http//www.allgreenrecycling.com
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Potential Workers Learn to Reduce Waste for Reuse

• Substation33, of Queensland, Australia, opened
  for business in January 2013 as an electronic
  waste recycling center, providing a workplace
  where volunteers and employees gain confidence
  and skills for the transition to sustainable
  employment, according to its website, www.substat
  ion33.com.au
• This social endeavor has addressed dumped
  hardware trash and benefited its citizens by
  turning the discarded devices into tens of
  thousands of hours of volunteer work and
  training, shared by hundreds of people, along
  with thousands of hours of actual paid employment.

http//www.allgreenrecycling.com
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• Substation33s efforts have provided skills
  training for people who can take this learning
  into the broader field, teaching them to
  disassemble electronics into usable parts.
  Reclaimed parts are traded back into the
  manufacturing stream for reuse. This has
  addressed nearly 100,000 kilograms of waste that
  otherwise would have been in landfills.

http//www.allgreenrecycling.com
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Self-Sufficient Work

• While the reuse of reclaimed parts is
  economically beneficial to manufacturing,
  Substation33 is also nearly financially
  self-sufficient the project is almost completely
  self-funded, with seventy percent of its income
  provided mainly from monies from the recovered
  parts and materials. The effort still depends on
  supplementation from philanthropy for
  approximately thirty percent of its budget.
• This model, while working so well in an
  industrialized country, may actually work for
  developing nations as well, where electronic
  waste is already being sent for dumping. Workers
  anywhere could be trained, and parts could be
  rediscovered for sales back into the market.

http//www.allgreenrecycling.com
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Could this work in Africa?

• There is growing interest in exploring this
  reduce-reuse-recycle approach in areas such as in
  Africa, where social enterprises are already
  developing economic empowerment and industry.
  While it may not be the absolute end to our
  growing problem of e-waste, it is certainly worth
  exploring.
• Hand in hand with increased responsibility in
  manufacturing for reusable and recyclable
  devices, increased designing of devices and
  components with such reused and recycled parts,
  and increased interest in personal health and
  safety for workers, instead of a source of shame
  for the electronics industry and its consumers,
  dumping grounds like the one in Ghana could
  become a great source of skills training and
  legitimate recycling.

http//www.allgreenrecycling.com
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Questions? Need More Information?
Feel free to contact us.
Website http//www.allgreenrecycling.com All
Green Recycling info_at_allgreenrecycling.com (800)
780-0347    Source http//www.allgreenrecycling.
com/blog/electronic-waste-recycling-shows-promise-
for-skills-training/