Consumers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will have a chance to dispose of their used or defective electrical and electronic products at places designated by the organizer of a foreign-funded program, launched in Vietnam last week, from now till the end of June and July, respectively.

Those in the southern city will have a similar opportunity on April 19 when joining the Ho Chi Minh City Recycling Day at the Labor Culture Palace in District 1, as representatives from Vietnam Recycles, a free take-back program for such used or defective products with an aim to ensure their safe and environmentally sound recycling, will also be there to collect those pieces of equipment for recycling.

The Vietnam Recycles, run by Vietnam Recycling Platform (VRP), is also collecting such equipment at 15 designated collection points throughout Ho Chi Minh City from now until Friday.

The collection points include the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in District 1, the People’s Committee of Binh Trung Dong Ward in District 2, the People’s Committee of Ward 9 in District 3, the People’s Committee of Ward 12 in District 4, the People’s Committee of Tan Thuan Dong Ward in District 7, and the People’s Committee of Ward 17 in Phu Nhuan District.

The Vietnam Recycles, a new initiative for the recycling of e-waste launched by the VRP last Monday, supports both producers and consumers and is fully compliant with a recent decision by the Vietnamese prime minister on the collection and treatment of discarded products which came into effect January 1, 2015, according to a press release of the program.

All used or defective electrical and electronic equipment, returned through the e-waste recycling program, are safely collected and professionally processed to achieve maximum recovery of natural resources and ensure highly professional waste treatment with the objectives of reducing electronic waste, increasing recycling and managing the environmental, health and safety impact of products at the end of their life cycles, according to the press release.

The program has provided free take-back and recycling services for governmental agencies, institutions, and enterprise customers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City since January 2015.

According to Vietnam’s Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, the volume of e-waste in Vietnam is increasing rapidly due to the sharp increase in product demand. However, the level of public awareness regarding waste electrical and electronic equipment is very limited.

“We are thrilled to bring our expertise and techniques to build new standards in collection, logistics and recycling for Vietnam. The key for this program’s success lays in the strong collaboration and support from government, organizations and consumers,” said Patrick Wiedemann, CEO of Reverse Logistics Group, the VRP’s general contractor. 

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