More bin locations for REcycling Nation’s Electronic Waste (RENEW) programme
More than 23 tonnes of e-waste—over 150% of the total weight collected prior to RENEW—collected in first year
Singapore, 17 September 2015 – DHL Express, StarHub and TES-AMM celebrated the first anniversary of REcycling Nation’s Electronic Waste (RENEW), Singapore’s most extensive and inclusive electronic waste (e-waste) recycling programme for individual public consumers, by renewing the Memorandum of Understanding signed on September 2014.
StarHub’s e-waste recycling programme first began as the company’s own initiative in March 2012 with five bin locations. When the effort was rebranded as RENEW in September 2014 in partnership with DHL and TES-AMM, there were bins at 30 locations island-wide. Since then, 150 bins have been added, totalling 185 RENEW bins to date at 147 locations across the country. These locations include educational institutions, shopping malls, condominiums, government offices and community clubs. 50 more bins will be rolled out by the end of 2015.
The expanded network of RENEW bins has already borne fruit. From March 2012 till September 2014, the e-waste recycling programme had collected 14.8 tonnes of e-waste. In RENEW’s first year alone, the programme recycled over 23 tonnes of e-waste, which is over 150% of the total weight collected prior to RENEW.
“The runaway success of the RENEW programme is testament to how much can be achieved when likeminded partners work together,” said Tan Tong Hai, Chief Executive Officer, StarHub. “RENEW even won The Green Award at the Asia Communication Awards for two years running, in 2014 and 2015. While we are encouraged by the public and industry’s response in this first year, it is vital that we use this as a stepping stone to greater recycling adoption. Eventually, it is our long-term goal for RENEW to be fully funded by the proceeds of the recycled e-waste, making it self-sustainable.”
“As the Official Logistics Partner of RENEW, we are extremely encouraged by the stellar growth achieved so far and impressed by the speed of change driven by the public,” said Herbert Vongpusanachai, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, DHL Express Singapore. “Since January 2015, monthly collection frequency has more than doubled from that of end 2014 as a result of the expanded network of RENEW bins. DHL is committed to supporting further growth in demand for e-waste recycling. Environmental sustainability is an integral part of our business strategy and responsibility to the local community, and we are proud to play a part in RENEW for another year.”
Plans to build on the success of RENEW are already underway. These include improving the bin design to make the collection process more efficient and sourcing for more public access bin locations to make it more convenient for the public to deposit their e-waste.
“We are proud to be the pioneer partner in this RENEW program, together with StarHub and DHL, and incorporating this invaluable and effective project as part of our CSR activities and government directives,” said Scott Mac Meekin, Chief Operating Officer, TES-AMM.
RENEW is a purely voluntary community initiative by DHL, StarHub and TES-AMM with the support of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources as well as the National Environment Agency. All members of the public are encouraged to deposit their e-waste in RENEW bins, reducing the disposal of e-waste, one of the most toxic types of waste known to man.
The RENEW programme accepts e-waste including mobile phones, cable modems, laptops, DVD, VCR and VCD players, remote controls, keyboards, hard disk drives, modems, mice, wires, set-top boxes, docking stations, MP3 players, telephones and lithium-ion batteries.
Site owners are also invited to join the RENEW programme at no cost. RENEW bins are provided free of charge and there are no fees for e-waste collection.
For more information, please visit www.starhub.com/renew.
