Last month, the E-waste Race took place in Apeldoorn for the third time. Ten primary schools collected no less than 1651 old electronic devices. In addition, pupils were encouraged to have broken appliances repaired or to hand them in at Foenix circular craft centre. Most points were collected by De Vliegenier. The closing of the E-waste Race took place at primary school De Eendracht, in the presence of alderman Danny Huizer.
Of the 1651 old electronic devices, 59 were handed in to circular craft centre Foenix for reuse or repair. Thanks to this collection, the collected equipment does not end up in the incinerator, but is reused and recycled.
Using electronics more consciously
Currently, half of the electronic waste (e-waste) in the Netherlands is not recycled, often because it ends up in residual waste or is left at people's homes. The E-waste Race encourages children, their families and local residents to be more aware of electronics. As always, the race kicked off with an informative interactive lesson by an enthusiastic guest teacher. The guest lesson covered topics such as resource scarcity, consumerism and the circular economy.
Bonus points for repair
After the guest lectures, the race started and pupils collected e-waste for four weeks. The children received extra points if they had e-waste repaired or handed in old appliances at Foenix. Neighbours could offer their old electronic devices online, after which the pupils came to collect them at their homes. All appliances collected will be reused or recycled. In this way, the race contributes to a sustainable cycle of the precious raw materials contained in old electronics.
Only winners
These primary schools have participated in the E-waste Race over the past four weeks: Beekbergen, De Eendracht, De Schakel, De Vliegenier, Het Web, Koningin Emma, Eloyschool (Ugchelen), De Vorm, Prinses Margrietschool and Meester Lugtmeijer. Each school set its own target. The schools that achieved this target received a nice prize. De Vliegenier achieved the highest total number of points. Alderman Danny Huizer surprised the children of group 7 of De Eendracht. This class received a robot building kit, because they more than met their target.
The E-waste Race Apeldoorn is an initiative of the Municipality of Apeldoorn in cooperation with Circulus and Foenix.