As China?s largest city, Shanghai has a population of more than 20 million and boasts the economic, financial, trade and shipping hub of the country. Besides, Shanghai is one of the areas that consume the largest number of electric and electronic products in China, taking the second place in terms of electronic inventory. A huge number of TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, computers etc. fall into disuse in Shanghai every year and the number grows at an annual rate of 10%. The used electronic products, especially computers, become a new burden for society and bring pressure on environment protection. The raw materials used for a single computer can contain more than 700 substances such as lead, mercury, chromium compounds, arsenic, PBB and PBDE, more than half of which are extremely harmful to human health and ecosystem.
Main problems:
In cities, electronic devices are upgraded increasingly faster (more than 1 million sets of computers are phased out in Shanghai each year). Most of the discarded devices are treated as electronic waste. In China, nearly 70% of electronic wastes flow to the small workshops in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Chongqing, where they are not disposed properly which has caused irreversible harm to environment and human health.While most of the children in poor areas have no access to computers or other modernized devices for study and communication. They are eager to use computers and Internet to help with their studies and know more about the world outside the mountains of their hometown.
Solutions/activities:
1.Publicity campaigns on dispose of used electronic devices in a way that features ?environmental protection, public welfare and recycling economy?;
2.Collect, sort out and recycle used computers from public;
3.Build Green IT Classrooms for rural schools by using recycled computers;
4.Send non-reusable computers to dangerous waste treatment for environmentally sound treatment;
5.Pay return visits to the Green IT classroom and provide continuous technical support.
Anticipated results/outcome:
1. at least 50000 people know about environmentally sound treatment of used electronic devices;
2. at least 2500 sets of computers collected and among them 1000 sets are recycled, which is equal to reducing 450 tons of CO2 emissions and 10 tons of heavy metals, POPs and other harmful substances;
3. at least 50 green IT classroom established by recycled computers;
4. at least 1500 sets of computers get environmentally sound treatment;
5. return visits continuous three years and the computers of green IT classrooms are replaced less than 10%.