Broken electronics fill Club Brugge’s football stadium
It’s estimated nine million pieces of broken electronic equipment are gathering dust in Belgian households. Recupel, the not-for-profit organisation that is charged with collecting and processing old electronic equipment, says that’s enough to fill 300 football stadiums. To illustrate their point they filled Club Brugge’s stadium earlier this week.
Recupel estimates people in Belgium have some 51 million unused electronic appliances at home. some 9 million have reached the end of their lease of life. That works out at two per household. The organisation urges people to take these appliances to a collection point, to free up space, protect the environment and give the materials a new lease of life.
Recycling means that raw materials can be reused. “The more raw materials are recycled from existing equipment, the less we need to produce new raw materials via a mining industry that is very polluting” says Recupel’s Eric Dewaet.
Last year Recupel collected over 123,000 tons of old electronics and bulbs.
Due to corona restrictions supporters can’t attend matches and Club Brugge was glad to fill its stadium with electronic equipment to prove a point. In recent years the club has embraced sustainability.