New electronics recycling plan to tackle large appliances

Starting from January 1, the local government will implement a new recycling program for more types of electronics and electrical devices, the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) revealed on Friday.

The new program will allow more types of domestic appliances to be recycled, including refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, television sets, and computers.

The local government will provide free door-to-door recycling collection services. Local individuals, schools, nonprofit organizations and government departments can call the DSPA between 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Saturday to make an appointment for recycling collecting services.

This program is an expansion of the DSPA’s previous Computer and Telecommunication Devices Recycling Program. Once the program starts being implemented, residents can visit the DSPA, the government service center under the management of the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), and other locations.

The DSPA will also dispatch two recycling cars to run regularly through 16 recycling spots across Macau and Taipa.

Refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, televisions and computer screens may only be dropped into recycling cars or discarded at the solid waste recycling system on Avenida de Maio.

Similar to other recycling plans, if the recycled home appliances are in good condition and meet specific criteria, they will be donated to charities after a technical assessment and selection process. The rest will be disassembled and processed by the bureau’s contractor. The recyclable component materials will be transported to other countries, such as South Korea and Japan, for subsequent processing.

Simultaneously, from January 1, the DSPA will launch another recycling program to set up recycling bins inside selected buildings. These buildings must apply to the DSPA if they wish to have the recycling bins.

Building owners may choose from two available sizes of recycling bins. They can apply for bigger bins, which come with slots for paper, glass, metal and plastic materials. Smaller bins contain slots for metal, plastic and paper materials.

In order to encourage Macau’s building owners to participate in recycling activities, the DSPA will specially organize recycling competitions in the near future.

In October 2017, the DSPA launched a recycling program for computer and telecommunication devices. As of November this year, the DSPA had already recycled 73,000 electronic devices though the program. Of these, approximately 200 items qualified for donation, with 140 already transferred to the Caritas for donation.

‘Popular’ machine takes

3,700 bottles in 2 months

Also announced on Friday, the new recycling machine for single-use plastic water bottles has collected just 3,700 bottles after more than two months of operation. Nevertheless, DSPA representatives said that residents were “proactively” engaging with the water bottle recycling machine.

Approximately two months ago, the DSPA set up three single-use plastic water bottle recycling machines in town. The machine scans each bottle and refuses to accept it if the bottle is not properly cleaned.

A DSPA representative claims that some members of the public regard the machine as a “popular” and “trendy” item. However, the three machines combined have only received 3,700 bottles in their two months of operation. This equates to about 20 bottles per machine per day.

The DSPA says it will provide seven additional machines in the IAM’s service buildings.