Calgary company works to reduce electronic waste

A growing issue globally is electronic waste (e-waste), or the output of any unusable or unserviceable electronic item.

Matthew Bladek, the founder and principal of Village Electronics Recycling (VER), says in 2020 there were 53.6 billion kilograms of e-waste disposed of worldwide – an estimated 877 million kilograms of which were produced in Canada.

“That number increases five per cent, year-over-year, since 2016,” said Bladek.

Along with the increase in waste, Bladek says many places are throwing out or improperly disposing their electronic devices, some of which contain toxic chemicals.

“Which can seep into groundwater, which can contaminate the environment, and also harm any people who may be around it, or touching it, or even living near it,” he said.

While Canada does produce a lot of electronic waste, Bladek says the country is doing what it can to help curb the issue.

“Canada is a signatory of the Basel Convention which is a UN treaty that signatories agree to reduce and sustainably recycle their e-waste,” he said.

VER encouraged Calgarians to bring devices they no longer need during an electronics drive Saturday.

“Recycling is not just taking an item and sending it in for processing,” said Bladek.

“There’s a lot of parts of a computer for example that have metals and gold in it that can be recycled and processed and reused.”

Bladek says they will also work to rehabilitate useable devices to give to charities or groups in need in Calgary.