Averda, a leading environmental solutions provider in the Middle East and Africa, and Uber recently joined forces to tackle the ever rising problem of electronic waste in Dubai, UAE, marking the 2016 ‘Earth Day’.

Over a period of four hours, five UberRECYCLE cars were allocated for the mission of collecting Dubai’s residents and businesses unwanted electronic items such as laptops, desktops, mobile phones, DVD players, chargers, tablets, hairdryers etc.

Once collected, the electronic waste was taken to Uber Dubai offices for weighing and delivery to Averda Dubai’s premises for safe disposal.

Over the four hours duration of this unique initiative, 64 kg of electronic waste was appropriately disposed of and further recycled and hundreds of Uber riders requested the services of UberRECYCLE on the day via the Uber app.

According to the latest (2014) United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability ‘Global E-waste Monitor’, the annual supply of toxins from e-waste is comprised of 2.2 Mt of lead glass, 0.3 Mt of batteries and 4 kt (kilo tonnes) of CFCs (ozone depleting substances).

Philippa Charlton, Averda’s marketing director, said: “We are delighted with the results achieved with Uber on ‘Earth Day’. Both Averda and Uber are internationally recognised organisations, with novel and disruptive approaches to the way we deliver and perform our services.”

“Across the world there is a large portion of e-waste that is not collected, treated and disposed of appropriately and one of our key objectives is to play an active role in the responsible collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of e-waste across all the markets Averda operates in,” she added.

Chris Free, Uber UAE general manager, said: “Averda is the leading waste management company in the region and continuously looking for ways to be sustainable - which is also in line with Uber's vision. Uber launched this campaign in partnership with Averda to bring awareness to the hazardous impact of e-waste and wanted to use the ease and convenience of the app to make it easier for people to recycle.” – TradeArabia News Service