“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is the mantra of sustainability. In the spirit of “reuse” Stellenbosch University’s Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, in concert with Matie Community Service and the IT Division, recently refurbished and donated 180 computers to local schools. Read more here …
Archive for the ‘e-Waste’ Category
SU donates computers to local schools
Thursday, June 13th, 2013
FollowSU e-Waste update
Thursday, May 9th, 2013The IT Division’s e-waste programme continues to quietly do the right thing behind the scenes. During the period July 2012 to April 2013, Cape e-Waste Recyclers, our e-waste contractors, removed the following items from the on-campus e-waste depot for responsible disposal and recycling:
- 325 Computers
- 162 Printers and Scanners
- 269 Monitors
- 3 boxes of general e-waste.
The procedures by which IT assets should be decommissioned and placed into the e-waste stream are detailed on the IT Help wiki: e-Waste Procedures.
Die prosedures om IT-bates uit diens te haal en in die e-afval stroom te plaas is op die IT Help wiki beskikbaar: e-Afval Prosedures.
SA Green IT SIG Webinar 3
Friday, November 19th, 2010South Africa’s higher education IT sector held its third Green IT special interest group (SIG) webinar today under the auspices of the South African University Directors of Information Technology (ASAUDIT). There were 11 participants from SU, UCT, NMMU, UP, UNISA and UJ. Kimon de Greeff and Charl Souma of the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Adriaan Vorster of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) presented on the following:
- Kimon – UCT’s online car pooling systems for students, RideLink
- Adriaan – UJ’s renovation of its data centre cooling
- Charl – update on UCT’s e-waste initiative
- Charl – UCT’s energy-monitoring system under implementation.
The Story of Electronics
Friday, November 12th, 2010The Story of Stuff Project has released a new animated film, The Story of Electronics, hosted by Annie Leonard, the creator of the hit viral video The Story of Stuff. The film takes on the electronics industry about e-Waste. It argues for “product take back” and for companies to manufacture less toxic, more easily recyclable and longer lasting products. It’s an entertaining but pointed way to get the message across to us gadget geeks …
Did she mention “take back” laws in South Africa? Er …. no.
e-Waste procedures
Monday, May 17th, 2010The procedures by which IT assets should be decommissioned and placed into the e-waste stream are detailed on the IT Help wiki: e-Waste Procedures
Die prosedures om IT-bates uit diens te haal en in die e-afval stroom te plaas is op die IT Help wiki beskikbaar: e-Afval Prosedures
SA Green IT SIG Webinar 2
Friday, April 30th, 2010South Africa’s higher education sector held its second Green IT special interest group (SIG) webinar yesterday under the auspices of the South African University Directors of Information Technology (ASAUDIT). There were 13 participants from SU, UCT, NMMU and RU. Charl Souma of the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Dolf Krige from Stellenbosch University (SU) each gave a slide and audio presentation on sustainable IT initiatives on their respective campuses via Adobe Connect’s webinar infrastructure. (more…)
e-Waste Event prize winners
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009The lucky individuals who won the prizes that were sponsored by suppliers are listed below the fold. The winners were drawn from the hat. Everybody who deposited e-waste at the stand on Friday 23 Oct and filled in a form entered for the draw. Ninety-five individuals entered and we removed a large trailer full of old electronic equipment with the help of WastePlan. This equipment will be recycled and hazardous waste will be disposed of at a hazardous waste site. The aim of the event was to raise awareness about e-waste on campus and we think that we succeeded in this. (more…)
e-Waste event kicks off – photos
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
e-Waste recycling e-vent map Fri 23 Oct
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Click for full size
What to do with that broken PC? Bring it to the Rooiplein
Your e-waste earns you entry into a lucky draw for cool gadgets including an ipod, notebook, LCD display, printers, etc.
What is e-Waste?: Old appliances that used electricity e.g. PCs, screens, TVs, electronic devices, cellphones, etc.
Why?: e-Waste contains toxic substances
Where?: Jan Marais Square (Die Rooiplein)
Access?: Via Victoria St., between the Visual Arts and JH Neethling buildings
When?: Friday 23 Oct 2009 between 10h00-15h00
e-Waste e-vent on Stellenbosch campus 23 Oct
Monday, October 19th, 2009What to do with that broken PC? Bring it to the Rooiplein
Your e-waste earns you entry into a lucky draw for cool gadgets including an ipod, notebook, LCD display, printers, etc.
What is e-Waste?: Old appliances that used electricity e.g. PCs, screens, TVs, electronic devices, cellphones, etc.
Why?: e-Waste contains toxic substances
Where?: Jan Marais Square (Die Rooiplein) – see Map
Access?: Via Victoria St., between the Visual Arts and JH Neethling buildings
When?: Friday 23 Oct 2009 between 10h00-15h00
e-Waste fastest growing waste stream in SA?
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009Susanne Dittke of EnviroSense sent me an article which she penned for Opportunity Magazine recently. It contains some shockingly interesting numbers which I quote “as is” below:
It should come as no surprise that e-waste is officially now the fastest growing waste stream in South Africa. In larger urban metropoles, it constitutes already 5-8% of the municipal solid waste mix, accumulating at a rate three times that of other more traditional solid waste items such as locally unrecyclable packaging etc.
‘Redundant’ electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste) is generated from the rapid advance and uptake of new technology at an ever increasing rate. A recent assessment done in South Africa by the e-Waste Association of South Africa revealed that the combined volume of information technology and office equipment, consumer electronics and white goods that reach consumer markets today, will in five to 10 years swell to a waste avalanche of between one to two million tons per year, with an annual growth rate of between 10%-20%.
With clever marketing ploys and upgrade schemes, cellphone companies could already convince the average South African that a cellphone is hopelessly outdated after two years.
e-Waste in Africa
Friday, July 3rd, 2009Susanne Dittke of EnviroSense sent the following video about how e-waste is being handled in Cape Town to me.
The University has set up its e-Waste Initiative with the help of the organisations featured in the video, such as WastePlan and the e-Waste Alliance.
Buying the right, green PC
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009Greener computing does not simply mean minimising energy consumption of the PC during its operational life, but also during its full lifecycle from “cradle to grave”. It also means minimising material throughput i.e. recycling and re-using, and disposing of hazardous e-waste responsibly. So while much of this blog and a big part of our sustainable IT campaign is focused on energy efficiency in operations and e-waste, it is also important to review our PC procurement policies. (more…)
Recycling cellphones
Friday, April 3rd, 2009Campus e-Waste Initiative
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Do you have old, written-off computers, monitors and batteries lying around or clogging up cupboards? And you are concerned enough not to simply consign them to the dump?
Now there is a responsible campus solution. The IT Division has implemented a temporary e-waste depot on campus where e-waste will be aggregated for free pickup and disposal by contractors who specialise in the refurbishment, reuse and safe disposal of e-waste.