In 2019, together with our partners, we collected no less than 122,548 tonnes of discarded electrical and electronic equipment and light bulbs, which was a new record. This reflects the fact that last year, we moved up a gear by introducing a new collection channel, focusing on artificial intelligence to better close material cycles in the future, and launching a large-scale tracing campaign for the more than 200,000 "missing" fridges that vanish from the radar every year.

These are just some of last year's highlights that you can read about in our annual report.

However, the current corona crisis has laid bare the vulnerabilities of the globalised economy. Yet each crisis also offers opportunities to deal with the future in different ways. This will entail a greater commitment to a circular economy that will save our planet, which means we need to stop exhausting natural resources and stop regarding e-waste as waste. E-waste consists of tomorrow’s raw materials, which we can fully recycle and keep reusing. Urban mining, which maximises recovery of raw materials from our appliances, has not only a positive impact on the environment but also creates local jobs.

So, e-waste offers many sustainable prospects for the future. Our Chairman of the Board of Directors explains in an interview in our annual report that we have the ambition to grow from being a link to being a pivot in the chain of the circular economy.

Read our annual report here