Uber drives Averda's massive electronic waste recycling initiative

By Paul Ploumis

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Transportation major Uber partnered with electronics recycling giant Averda to organize massive e-waste recycling collection event for residents belonging to selected areas of Dubai City. The event offered residents an opportunity to recycle their discarded electronics free of charge. The e-waste recycling collection event which ran from July 2 to 4 was also supported by Dubai Science Park and Dubai Internet City. The event follows the tremendous success of a similar event organized last year.

The residents having Uber app already installed or newly downloaded in their mobile phones were invited to use the ‘UberRECYCLE’ from 10 AM to 2 PM on any of the three days from July 2nd to 4th. The event was restricted to residents of Dubai Science Park, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai International Academic City and Dubai Outsource City communities. Uber UAE arranged complimentary pick up of the discarded electronics items from the residents’ premises to Averda’s recycling facility in Al Quoz, to be disposed safely.

The campaign was aimed at making realize the amount of e-waste they hold and to raise awareness about the need to properly recycle them and the harmful issues associated with careless disposal of unwanted electronics. The campaign highlighted the importance of recycling by focusing on its numerous benefits including significant reduction of carbon footage and the role played by recycling in promoting environment sustainability.

This is the second such campaign to be rolled out in the UAE by Uber. In July 2016, a one-day campaign was conducted in partnership with Averda. The event collected over 60 kilograms of end-of-life electronic products for recycling. The company had organized a similar e-waste collection drive in Lebanon during 2015, which resulted in collection of huge quantities of e-waste from Beirut homes. Chris Free, General Manager of Uber UAE hoped that the recent collection event would be able to surpass the previous year’s collection volumes. The event has been successful in generating positive impact in people, Free added.

The recently concluded UN study had placed UAE as one of the largest e-waste generating countries in the GCC region along with Kuwait. According to estimates, an average UAE resident generates 17.2 kilograms of e-waste every year. Incidentally, the entire GCC region had generated 600,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2015, of which UAE was one of the key contributors. Also, the region’s e-waste generation is projected to rise to 900,000 tonnes by 2020. The rapid evolution of newer technologies and the shorter life cycles of modern devices are the main contributors to mounting pile of e-waste.