Since 2018, 80 electric waste collection points have been installed in Chisinau, IPN reports, referring to a press release issued by the United Nations Development Program, which implemented in Moldova "Clean city with recycled e-waste" project.
The statement shows that in the 80 points of electrical waste recycling people can throw mobile phones, batteries, irons, hairdryers, toasters, tablets, laptops, cables and so on. Dumpsters can be found in some stores of Fourchette, Linella and Maximum networks.
The release mentions that another category of e-waste, not less dangerous, but often troublesome for proper disposal, is represented by large e-waste, such as washing machines, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, etc. With the support of the project, large dumpsters have been placed on the filling platforms of Bemol gas stations.
"Over 30,000 students have been actively involved in activities related to increasing awareness and education in the spirit of responsibility towards the environment," said the source, which also specifies that volunteers convince their peers that e-waste cannot go into the same dumpster with the rest of the household waste and cannot be kept in people’s homes.
The press release states that the waste disposed of in the specialized dumps is collected by three companies authorized to recycle household and electronic equipment.
"Most electrical and electronic waste reaches the recycling platform of large companies. From 2018, the Regulation on electrical and electronic equipment waste became effective”, the press release states. According to it, the economic agents who sell electrical and electronic equipment are obligated to accept electronic waste free of charge.
"Economic agents that do not comply with the legal provisions risk penalties. Thus, Article 154 of the Contravention Code provides for sanctions such as fines from 120 to 180 conventional units (conventional unit = 50 lei) for legal entities that do not comply with the way of collection, transportation, storage, etc. The Contravention Code also stipulates fines from 12 to 24 conventional units for individuals or unpaid labour to the benefit of the community up to 60 hours.”, says the UNDP statement.
