Belgium recycled nearly 123 tonnes of electronics in 2013

A Belgian electronics’ recycling organization, Recupel, has announced that it received 122,905 kg of consumer appliances in 2013, or just shy of 123 tonnes. Everything from home computers, printers, and TVs to name only a few, avoided the landfill and found their way to second lives.

This year’s take comes on the heels of an educational outreach tour to promote recycling. Of the 123 tonnes, 34,994 kg were found to be reusable and have been moved to reuse centres. The remaining appliances are dealt with by Recupel, which sees that any dangerous materials are removed from the electronic devices before the rest is recycled.

The success of this year’s campaign has Recupel already planning another tour for 2014 with a focus on smaller electronic devices, such as mp3 players and calculators. According to the organisation, small electronics continue to have a tendency to find the trash can, instead of the recycling bin.