E-waste (electronic waste) has now become the world’s fastest-growing waste stream. This is largely due to poor waste management which stems from people’s lack of knowledge and awareness regarding E-waste disposal. E-waste contains toxic substances such as lead, cadmium and mercury which can negatively harm human health and the environment.
In view of this matter, an educational campaign titled Erase E-waste was organised by nine UTAR Bachelor of Corporate Communication (Honours) final-year students on 16 November 2022 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. The campaign was held in collaboration with UTAR Green Campus Committee (UGCC) of UTAR Sungai Long Campus.
The slogan of the campaign was “Reuse, Recycle and Revalue”. It aimed to raise the awareness of UTAR students on the growing E-waste problem and educate them on how to minimise it.
Invited to officiate the Erase E-waste campaign was a Member of Selangor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Balakong, YB Puan Wong Siew Ki. According to YB Puan Wong, Malaysians’ awareness of proper E-waste management is still relatively low and it needs to be increased. She is grateful that UTAR students have organised such a meaningful E-waste awareness campaign for the public. She hopes there will be more similar activities held in the future.
UTAR Dean of Faculty of Creative Industries (FCI) Dr David Tneh Cheng Eng congratulated the organising committee and expressed his happiness to see the students make use of this opportunity to promote environmental sustainability. Dr David Tneh also thanked Sin Chew Daily for becoming the campaign’s official media partner. Last but not least, he also thanked Pusat Khidmat DUN Balakong, United Engine Parts Sdn Bhd, GoodMorning Global Sdn Bhd and Oloiya for sponsoring the event and ERTH: Electronic Recycling (E-waste) and Takumiko Smartphone Services for their support.
Organising Chairperson of Erase E-waste campaign Jasmine Loke Hui Xia said, “We received an overwhelming number of positive responses from UTAR students and staff members. We have successfully collected more than 500 E-waste items from UTAR students. All these items will be delivered to ERTH, a government-licensed recycling facility that recycles E-waste. I am happy because this campaign provided us with a chance to influence students’ behaviours positively and educate them on the right ways to discard E-waste responsibly.”
The campaign was filled with a series of interesting activities like an E-waste artwork exhibition, a forum and educational game booths. The activities attracted nearly 300 participants. Five E-waste artworks from Takumiko Smartphone Services were also featured at the E-waste artwork exhibition.
The speakers for the forum titled “Electronic Waste: A Growing Concern and What We Can Do About It” were Assistant Director of Hazardous Substances Division Department of Environment (DOE) Malaysia Nur Aliaa binti Shafie and Chairperson of UTAR Green Campus Committee (UGCC) of UTAR Sungai Long Campus Assoc Prof Dr Lai Soon Onn. The forum was moderated by UTAR Green Campus Committee Member Chow Keng Fatt. They shared current facts and statistics about the arising E-waste issues and educated the audience on sustainable consumption of electronics.
The campaign started on 26 August 2022 and ended on 16 November 2022. An online workshop was also held as part of the campaign on 5 November 2022 via Microsoft Teams to teach UTAR students how to revalue discarded keyboard keycaps into keychains. A total of 21 students participated in the workshop. Other than that, the committee also conducted interviews to find out UTAR students’ level of awareness towards E-waste as well as their views and behaviours on E-waste recycling. The team also filmed a documentary video of their site visit to ERTH and their interview with ERTH’s Branch Manager Mr Kelvin on important E-waste issues. Both videos were posted on the campaign’s official social media platforms to support the campaign’s objectives.
