2021 was a year full of challenges and new developments.
We remained motivated to do more and better and continued
working to increase recycling rates for waste electrical equipment,
batteries and packaging and thus contribute to a more circular future.
It was a year dedicated to innovative projects that met the challenges
identified by the market and citizens.
Electrical Equipment
Electrão is the waste management entity with the largest market share in the management of e-waste. We work daily to increase the number of collection points and to get closer to the Portuguese people, so that it becomes more and more convenient to send waste for recycling.
We are proud to continue to be the waste management entity in which producers of electrical equipment and the Portuguese people have the greatest trust. And we pride ourselves on finding solutions to all the challenges that the market presents. In 2021, we got closer to the citizens with the innovative project for the collection of electrical appliances at home and, with WEEE Follow, we fostered the need to create a national project for the monitoring of e-waste in order to fight the parallel market.
Collection
Collecting e-waste handed in by the citizens is the first step towards ensuring that the waste is correctly recycled.
2021 was another year in which we kept our mission to collect more and better. And, once again, we surpassed the collection records.
In 2021
the Electrão network ensured the collection of
17 083
tonnes of e-waste
Each Portuguese delivered, on average,
at the Electrão´s collection points:
1,7 kg
per capita
The electrical equipment collected
is approximately equivalent to
10 215
tonnes of
large
equipment
6 488
tonnes of
small
equipment
380
tonnes of
lamps
Treatment
and Recycling
After collection, the electrical equipment is sent to specialised centers and treated by category. At these sites, the equipment is correctly de-polluted and dismantled using procedures that ensure that all the hazardous substances are safely removed and that all the materials that can be recycled are recovered.
After this process, the hazardous substances are sent for disposal and the materials that can be used are sent for recycling. These materials are transformed into raw materials so that they can later be incorporated into new products. The elements that do not have the potential to be recycled and transformed into raw material are subject to recovery operations, where they are processed in incineration systems to produce electricity.
From the equipment
we collected,
77%
Were recycled
84%
Were recovered
Recycling and recovering rates by electrical equipment category
Temperature exchange
equipment
81% Recycling Rate | 91% Recovery Rate
Screens and monitors
58% Recycling Rate | 60% Recovery Rate
Lamps
83% Recycling Rate | 86% Recovery Rate
Large
equipment
86% Recycling Rate | 95% Recovery Rate
Small
equipment
79% Recycling Rate | 93% Recovery Rate
IT and telecommunications
equipment
72% Recycling Rate | 80% Recovery Rate
The treatment of electrical equipment allows us to separe the hazardous substances and recycle materials that will be used as raw materials.
Hazardous Substances
for disposal or recovery
Oils, electrolytic capacitors, liquid crystal displays, fluorinated gases, cathode ray tubes, flame retardant plastics, batteries, mercury, phosphorus powder, components containing radioactive substances
Material
Recycling
Glass
Plastic
Paper
Metal
Wood
The collection and treatment of this waste made it possible to avoid the emission of
Equivalent to 141 012 tonnes of CO2 *
*The allocation of the quantity of waste and the carbon equivalent were estimated by direct application of the quantities collected
This action would correspond
to the plantation of
7.050.600
trees
Electrão Network
These results were only possible because we continued to work to be closer to the population, by extending our collection network. In addition to awareness-raising and collection campaigns such as Quartel Electrão or Escola Electrão, we have started the pilot project Porta-a-Porta for door-to-door collection of used electronical appliances in Lisbon. Our network of collection points is also increasing and is distributed all over the country.
Shopping Centers
Fire Stations
Urban Waste Management Systems
Schools
Companies
Reception Centers
Logistics Operators
Treatment Operators
Relationship with member companies
The dedication we place in the management of the Electrão network, and in the collection of e-waste, is part of the commitment we have assumed with our Member Producers, who continue to place their trust in Electrão to treat the equipment they place on the market. 2021 continued to be a year of strengthening the relationship with our Members and also a year of growth in the electrical equipment market.
1 365
member companies
Transfered to Electrão the responsibility for the management of electrical equipment placed on the market
In 2021
These producers reported placing
on the market a total of
138 567
tonnes of electrical
equipment
13 kg
per capita
Audits and technical
verifications carried out
Compliance with all environmental regulations is very important for Electrão, which accompanied the work of partners – collection sites, collection centers and logistics operators
242
Audits and technical audits
performed on
producers and member companies
Electrical equipment
collection and recycling
system operation
Electrão’s Electrical Equipment Management System is based on the principle of extended producer responsibility and the transfer of EPR fee to support the costs of treating the waste generated from the products that each of these producers places on the market. Find out how our system works and the costs associated with each of its management items.
The management of electrical equipment
in 2020 and 2021
