The mass consumption of electronic devices in rich countries has its dark side in the technological junkyard that is drowning the Third World.
The 25% that is recycled legally in authorized plants in Spain is a figure that must be reverted: everything that we do not recycle by taking to a recycling centre is fuel for the illegal trade in waste. As Dannoritzer says, this illegal trafficking in electronic waste, or e-waste, already moves more money than the drug trade.
With these data on the table, electronic recycling is presented as key to recovering materials (glass and plastic) and reintroducing them into the production system, while at the same time reducing the environmental impact of discarding toxic waste. E-waste contains highly polluting heavy metals, such as lead, mercury and chromium which, without the necessary treatments, are lethal for those who handle them in those African landfills. Click here to consult the map of recycling centres and establishments where you can take waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
As a result of this correctly performed recycling there are companies that, aware of the danger and knowing that sustainability is the foundation for any business model that seeks to be durable, have set to work on the manufacture of domestic appliances with recycled materials and biocomposites, as in the case of Beko. Two examples: the washing machine and washer-dryer RecycledTub, manufactured with plastic waste that has been transformed into an alternative raw material (approximately up to 60 0.5L PET bottles). In relationship with the recycling generated since the project was launched in 2017, the company has managed to recycle 58 million plastic bottles with a reduction in CO2 emissions of almost 2,200 tonnes.