Few months ago, I spent hours online trying to find an Indian facility that could dispose of my old desktop computer and a DVD player in an eco-friendly way. Sorry to say, I found only two or three such facilities. And none of them responded to my messages.
Too bad my desktop and DVD player were not Samsung products. Samsung runs a Samsung Take-back And Recycling (STAR) program to help in the recycling of old Samsung products in an eco-friendly way. In STAR program, Samsung takes back an old product and reuse, recycle or reinvent it. This saves in resources and also prevents the air pollution that takes place when e-waste is disposed off in less environment friendly way.
Sadly, not every Samsung product user knows about this program. So, to spread more awareness and play a greater role in environment preservation, Samsung organized various awareness drives on the occasion of the World Environment Day 2016.
As part of this, Samsung attempted to ensure awareness at its Chennai and Noida manufacturing units, the R&D centres in Delhi, Noida, Bengaluru and even at all its offices and partner services around the country. This was done by sharing with the employees various informative videos, teasers and educative e-mailers containing environment related facts and insights. Moreover, many E-waste bins were put up across various locations to ensure the employees adhered to Samsung's philosophy of building a greener environment. Employees were also encouraged to inspire others to follow greener E-waste management practices.
Also, Samsung mobile service centers were adorned with special World Environment Day decorations. These included digital display of video, creatives, notice board decoration and art or craft made of E-waste material. Various plants were also placed around the service centers and employees were encouraged adopt greener modes of commuting to office.
Commenting upon these initiatives, Anurag Prashar, Vice President, Samsung India Electronics, said, "United Nations' World Environment Day is an important time for everyone to remind ourselves of our responsibility towards the environment and to resolve that we should come together and work towards protecting the future of planet Earth. At Samsung, we are committed to a sustainable future that makes everyday living better and through this program our aim was to drive this change in thinking through a call for action."
The global E-waste policy of Samsung Electronics encourages recycling and also complies with India's E-waste Management and Handling Rules. The STAR program is a great initiative to minimize the harmful effect of e-waste on environment. I wish more and more brands start running such programs. Or at least we have some easy way in which those who do care about environment can dispose of their e-waste in a greener way. And finally, if you are thinking of disposing off an old Samsung product, don't give it to the scrap dealer. Check out the STAR program instead. Saving environment is our responsibility too.
