e-Waste Disposal/Recycling in Singapore

I mentioned before that Singaporeans are quite enamored by tech gadgets. They take to technology like fish take to water. I wasn't all too surprised at all the spending reportedly done during the PC Show 2007. But all this got me to thinking: There must be tons of consumer electronics and gadgets in all the homes in Singapore, so where do they go to die? All those electronic components, and batteries, is it even environmentally safe to just throw them out with the trash?

I did some internet searches and enquiries and came upon the term 'e-waste'. Yes, just prepend the ever useful 'e'. Apparently there is initiative to manage and even recycle e-waste. But when I narrowed my searches to be Singapore-specific, most of the search results were merely articles about Singapore e-waste management companies. I did come upon this article from CNA, which seems to reflect a less-than-rosy situation.

Well, I can see recycling bins around town for paper and soft drink cans, so I know Singaporeans are generally conscious about being environmentally friendly. In terms of this e-waste situation, I think we just need to step up the effort as well as raise awareness. Frankly I was a bit disappointed. Being a green city, I thought for sure Singapore would have some tough measures in place for corporations, and public programmes readily available to the public. I certainly am guilty of chucking out my unused PC monitor and other assorted electronics before this, and I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. But no one else seems to be bothered much. :(

So what do we do with all our PCs, laptops, digital cameras, handphones, MP3 players, CD players, TVs, etc then? The obvious answer, as mentioned by the article, is to do a bit of work ourselves and sell/donate the item to someone who could use it. This is, of course, if the item is still in working condition. You may think your item is too old and would not sell, but you might be surprised. If the price is right, it could be snatched up pretty fast. eBay and Hardware Zone are places you can visit if you are interested to put up an old item for sale. You can even search for similar items to see what price others are asking for first. Be sure to document the condition of the item to be fair to buyers.

If that fails, just donate the item. Salvation Army ? Or you could just pass it to one of your unsuspecting friends or neighbours.

Another option is to check with the manufacturer of the item. They generally have some sort of programme where they help you dispose of old products you purchased from them. Multinational corporations normally have these programmes in place overseas due to legislation or community responsibility, and they just have to replicate the programmes here. Again I looked online and am listing links to those companies with information on their recycling programmes that are easily found.

Motorola's ECOMOTO - Drop-off points

Dell Recycling - Scheduled pickups

HP Supplies Recycling - Drop-off points for printing supplies, pickups for large volume of hardware

There are others but I couldn't find more info on their websites within a few clicks after searching for the keyword 'recycling'. Yeah... I'm lazy... :)

Drop me a comment if you have other tips concerning e-waste.