E-Waste Awareness Creation

Any electronic product or accessory that has reached the end of its useful life is called E-waste. For example, discarded or obsolete air conditioners, TVs, washing machines, refrigerators, fluorescent and other mercury-containing lamps, etc. The pervasiveness of electronic gadgets has led to an increase in the generation of electronic waste. Electronic waste is a global concern due to its effects on the environment. Apart from affecting the environment, it can also affect the health of people; hence, managing E-waste effectively is important.

WEEE, or Waste electrical and electronic equipment, is growing at an alarming rate. Why? EEEs are made from several components, most of which are hazardous, especially if they are not disposed of safely, and most of them are not. Improper recycling and disposal processes do little to curb the problem and instead worsen conditions.

The aim of GESTA is to raise public awareness about electronic waste and the dangers it poses to the environment. To that end, the GESTA emphasizes education and the involvement of community leaders, opinion leaders, parents, and schoolchildren, in order to raise awareness of end-of-life electronics as a resource and, through them, to spread the message throughout families and society as a whole.

Our awareness campaigns contribute to overcoming the two main barriers to recycling: the lack of knowledge, where information about proper waste segregation is communicated to the citizens, and changing attitudes and perceptions to keep people motivated to avoid and sort waste.

GESTA uses a whole range of communication channels, which include advertising, public relations, direct marketing, community engagement, online engagement, social media, and product labeling.

To GESTA, an effective way to improve attitudes towards waste reuse and recycling is to integrate waste management education into school curriculum, particularly teaching children about the causes and consequences of waste disposal and highlighting the importance of waste prevention, reuse, and recycling. Our awareness-creation interventions aim to create a new generation of recycling heroes. This is done by educating students in primary schools, who in turn educate their parents and society as a whole about the importance of reintegrating e-waste into the circular economy. The overall aim is to reduce society’s footprint in terms of critical raw materials and increase the recycling of WEEE.

Each year, GESTA, working in partnership with other stakeholders, observes International E-waste Day, taking place on October 13, which aims to promote the proper disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) throughout the world, ultimately leading to an increase in reuse and recycling rates. In celebration of International E-waste Day, GESTA leads the entire nation in understanding the dangers of e-waste, what needs to be done to curb its menace, and how to dispose of it correctly.