This agreement signals the first phase of a wide scale regional programme to handle the issue of e-waste in the Middle East.
“Rapid technology change in recent years has resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe. E-waste is significantly different from industrially generated hazardous wastes in that almost every individual, institution and business generates it; therefore addressing this issue is a key priority for Canon. Our partnership with EnviroServe is part of our ongoing environmental commitment and reiterates our efforts to maximise resource efficiency and contribute to a society that practices sustainable development,” said Bertil Widmark, managing director, Canon Middle East.
Under this agreement, EnviroServe’s e-waste recycling division EnviroFone will facilitate the collection of end of life electronic products,and service parts before segregating the materials into the different components and sending to recyclers where they will be melted, crushed and treated into raw materials for re-use.
“Because there is little awareness in the Middle East about how toxic e-waste elements like batteries and TV screens affect our environment, there is no system in place to responsibly recycle e-waste. Our main goal is to create awareness as well as develop and sustain a sense of environmental responsibility in our Arab communities and within the companies and businesses that operate in this region.” Mariam Hanafy, EnviroFone Division manager explained. “We are proud to be the only company in the region able to support and facilitate Canon’s environmental initiatives and take-back programmes involving any kind of end-of-life electric and electronic equipment.”
“Encouraging our consumers to recycle their end of life Canon products is one of the core fundamental principles of Canon’s global environmental charter. We have an impressive track record of recycling worldwide, to date the cumulative weight of toner cartridges collected by Canon since 1990 exceeds 190,000 tons globally, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to extend this environmental commitment to the Middle East and North Africa,” added Bertil Widmark.
As part of Canon’s cradle to the grave production approach, by 2010 Canon Middle East aims to reduce its carbon emissions to 50% of the output for the same work in 2000. In addition, Canon is the only company to have produced a range of green calculators made from recycled material.
EnviroServe is a US-based environmental waste managers.
