Shanghai's first legal waste recycling station for discarded electric appliances will open to the public at the end of this month in Jiading District, Shanghai Electric Appliance Maintenance and Service Association said yesterday. 
The association was instrumental in setting up the recycling station.

The station will pay 50 yuan (US$6.25) to 100 yuan for big scrap electric appliances like TV sets and refrigerators or 10 yuan to 20 yuan for smaller appliances.

The price the station offered was higher than other scrap vendors to get residents to use this legal recycling station for their waste appliances, said Yu Jinbiao, vice chairman of the association.

"After setting up the station, we hope residents as well as some factories will send their electric appliance waste to the station rather than dispose of them randomly or sell them to illegal vendors," Yu said.

Currently, there are at least six big illegal electric waste collecting centers around the city, in addition to individual waste collectors, Yu pointed out.

The city produces about 100,000 tons of electric appliance waste every year, including 250,000 TV sets, and 200,000 units each of computers, refrigerators and washing machines. Eighty percent of them are discarded randomly or burnt, greatly contributing to pollution.

A small button battery will pollute 600 cubic meters water and more than 50 percent of computer components contain poisonous chemicals.

Waste recycling industry officials plan more such stations in other districts.

(Shanghai Daily September 5, 2006)