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Hong Kong Opens First Government-backed E-waste Recycling Facility
The $54 million facility turns e-waste like computers and televisions into shredded chunks of plastic and steel.
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Hong Kong recently opened its first government-backed e-waste recycling facility, which aims to combat one of the largest waste problems. The $54 million facility turns e-waste like computers and televisions into shredded chunks of plastic and steel.
To keep the facility running efficiently and effectively, the Hong Kong government will charge importers of electronic goods a levy that goes toward funding the facility and a free collection service for e-waste.
Financial Times has more:
“It’s easy to make electronic products but very hard to dismantle them safely,” says Nigel Mattravers as he watches his state-of-the-art, $54m recycling plant turn crates of washing machines, computers and televisions into shredded chunks of plastic and steel.
Hong Kong has just opened its first government-backed recycling facility for electronic waste as it seeks to lead Asia in tackling a growing global blight that is damaging the environment, threatening human health and lining the pockets of smugglers.
The volume of global e-waste is expanding because of rising incomes in emerging markets and demand for new gadgets and appliances. But only 20 per cent of this waste is properly recycled, according to a United Nations report. It estimates that €55bn ($65bn) of valuable metals and plastics were thrown away in 2016 — more than the gross domestic product of many countries.
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