Singapore - StarHub sets up e-recycling bins around S'pore

SINGAPORE - In support of the upcoming Earth Hour movement, StarHub will not only go lights-off for an hour, it will be setting up electronic waste (e-waste) recycling bins at various locations around the island.

For an hour between 8.30 to 9.30pm this Saturday, StarHub will be dimming their lights and switching off their television screens at their retail shops and Customer Service Centres around the island as part of the global effort to reduce electricity and greenhouse gas emissions.

StarHub will also be launching its e-waste recycling programme, where e-waste recycling bins will be placed at its Customer Service Centres at OUB Centre, Parkway Parade, Plaza Singapura and StarHub Green, as well as the Grid MMS Office at SCAPE.

The initiative is to provide consumers with a way to safely and responsibly dispose of their electronic waste, said Neil Montefiore, Chief Executive Officer of StarHub.

"Recycling bins for paper, plastic and metal are commonplace nowadays, but it is very difficult to find bins in which the average consumer can recycle e-waste," said Montefiore.

"We're hoping to provide such channels at easily accessible locations, and eventually inculcate a long-term habit for consumers, whether they are our customers or not, to recycle their e-waste with us," he added.

E-waste, which includes items such as mobile phones, cable modems, laptops and lithium-ion batteries, accounts for over 70 per cent of the toxic waste in landfills.

Improper disposal leads to serious pollution and health problems.

"About 50 million cell phones are replaced worldwide every month, and only 10 per cent are recycled," said Montefiore.

"If we recycled just 1 million cell phones, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking more than 1,300 cars off the road for an entire year," he said.

To incentivise the public to recycle their e-waste at its e-waste recycling bins, StarHub has pledged to plant 30 trees at a local park if 3,000kg of e-waste is deposited into the five bins between Earth Hour and Earth Day, which falls on April 22.

This works out to one tree for every 100kg of e-waste recycled.

All e-waste collected will be recycled by TES-AMM, a local e-waste recycling company, StarHub said.

AsiaOne

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