Planned campaign to raise awareness on electronic waste disposal

AMMAN — The Ministry of Environment will launch a campaign within a week to raise public awareness on ways of handling electronic waste, according to officials.

The campaign seeks to guide people on how to dispose of their electronic waste and raise awareness about the hazards of electronic waste, Environment Minister Taher Shakhshir said recently.

The improper disposal or processing of electronic waste causes serious health and pollution problems, as some electronic scrap components contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury and brominated flame retardants, according to web sources.

An Environment Ministry official said the campaign is ready to be launched, highlighting that it will promote better management methods of electronic waste disposal in the Kingdom.

“The ministry has already started distributing bins in different regions for people to discard their unwanted gadgets,” the official told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

In addition to the collection bins, the campaign also entails the distribution of stickers and brochures to the public to guide them on ways to handle electronic waste.

Ministry of Environment officials believe that the absence of sound management of electronic waste threatens the environment and public health.

Official figures indicate that 94 per cent of Jordanians own at least one cell phone and two-fifths of households own PCs, which are often discarded with the regular garbage when outdated.

In Jordan, the average age of PCs ranges between two to five years, while it is eight to 10 years for TV sets and fridges, and two to three years for most cell phones, according to ministry studies. 

Statistics indicate that at least one million Jordanian households are linked to the electricity network and thus each has a minimum of one electrical device.

When dumped in landfills, dangerous substances such as lead and mercury cause serious pollution to the environment and groundwater sources, according to the Environment Ministry official, who called on the public to avoid handling electronic waste as domestic waste.

Officials have repeatedly urged the public to drop off their unwanted or outdated computer equipment and any electronic waste at the ministry, which discards the materials at the hazardous waste unit in the Swaqa Landfill, 160 kilometres from Amman.