(VOVworld) – Dumping electronic waste into the environment can harm people’s health. Vietnam Recycles, a free take-back program for used or defective electronic equipment, has been launched in Hanoi.  

Vietnam Recycles aims to encourage public participation in building a greener (Photo vietnamnet.vn)

Vietnam Recycles is run by the Vietnam Recycling Platform, a consortium established by American technology giants Hewlett-Packard and Apple, to encourage public participation in building a greener Vietnam through safe electronic waste recycling.

Under the program which was launched in Hanoi in late September in response to this year’s campaign to make the world cleaner, discarded or defective electronic equipment in Vietnam will be taken back freely.

Le Tran Phong who lives in Cau Giay district says: “We often sell used electronic devices to waste collectors but we don’t know what they do with them. We understand that e-waste is not biodegradable and harms the environment. It’s good to see a program that recycles e-waste.”

Discarded devices will be collected at five collection points in Cau Giay and Ba Dinh district. The equipment will then be sorted and dismantled at a designated facility to assure maximum material recovery.

Art performances and interactive activities have been organized to raise public awareness about e-waste and encourage people to bring their e-waste to collection stations rather than littering the environment.

Nguyen Thanh Nga, an official in charge of environmental issues in Nghia Tan ward, Cau Giay district, said the collected e-waste will be handed over to HP and Apple after being sorted and dismantled.

She noted: “every day we release communications to make people understand the negative effects of e-waste. We must change public attitudes, so communication is vital. Involving the whole community and raising their awareness is the only way to make the program effective.”

Professor Pham Ngoc Dang of the Vietnam Association of Nature and Environmental Protection said the take-back and processing of e-waste plays an important role in conserving resources.

According to Dang, “we need to build facilities to recycle precious metals and safely dispose of harmful substances to protect the environment. A pilot program in a few areas is not enough. We also need to separate hazardous waste from other household waste to reduce environmental pollution.”