The COVID-19 pandemic fueled household demand for electronic devices such as PCs, tablets, and mobile phones. The new normal of online schooling and work-from-home have resulted in each individual using an average of five electronic devices. Of the 142 million subscribed phone numbers in Thailand, 45 million are used on IT equipment and 97 million on smartphones.
To address the rise in resulting e-waste, dtac Think Hai d is collaborating with SMART – a property management company currently serving over 300 properties Bangkok – on the SMART “A Love to Give” campaign. The campaign aims to collect all types of e-waste, including discarded phones and accessories to be properly recycled, as part of its efforts to meet the Zero Landfill target.
Sharad Mehrotra, Chief Executive Officer, Total Access Communication PLC or dtac, said, “dtac has set a target to properly dispose of e-waste – mobile phones and accessories – which results from our telecom operations. I would like to invite all residents to dispose of their e-waste with dtac. You can be assured that they will be properly handled and recycled to international standard by our recycling partner. Since 2012, dtac and our partner have collected and properly recycled two million mobile devices and accessories, contributing to a reduction of 32 million kilos of carbon. By expanding our collection to cover housing developments, we hope to reduce 2% of e-waste resulting from the 20.9 smartphones* that were purchased during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
dtac Think Hai d’s e-waste management procedure starts with data security, by placing memory units in mobile devices through three cycles of deletion and one cycle of overwriting as per the NIST 800-88R1 standard practiced the world over. The e-waste is then disassembled into separate components which account for 96% of the overall e-waste, while the remaining 4% requires special processing to prevent chemical discharge into the environment. dtac also deploys two e-waste management strategies in line with the principles of Circular Economy: one is to remarket demo units to consumers seeking more affordable devices, while the second is to recycle electronic devices which have reached the end of their lives.
Suvat Kulphaichit, Managing Director, Smart Services and Management Co., Ltd., added, “With dtac as our partner in the “A Love To Give” campaign, we are targetting 316 residential properties to collect and recycle electronic waste. dtac is supporting us by taking collected e-waste to be properly recycled and managed.”
For close to three years, SMART has recovered 108,945.81 grams of metals by collecting recyclable waste, of which 10% is e-waste. The recycling has generated over 730,000 Baht in reimbursement for the participating properties and 200,000 kilograms of CO2 reduction, the equivalent to saving 27,700 trees.
SMART not only offers common-area administration for residential properties but also overseas the well-being of residents, ensuring a good living environment and sustainable practices wherever possible. Good resident feedback has helped SMART to continually succeed in their “Eco Caring Community” and “A Love to Give” projects.
