By IANS,
Jerusalem : Israel is soon starting a programme for people with disabilities who would recycle electronic waste, including old computers donated by people.
The programme hopes to be environment friendly, job creating, and profitable as well, Xinhua reported citing a government press release.
Initiated by the environment ministry and social affairs ministry, the programme hopes to encourage citizens to donate old computer monitors, busted hard drives, worn-out keyboards to firms that hire employees with physical disabilities.
The firms would sort through and recycle the usable parts, it said.
The ministries will invest about $600,000 into the project.
“Our idea is to open some new places for disabled people to work,” said Yoav Goell, the recycling coordinator for the ministry of environmental protection.
Goell said Israel has recycling programmes for paper, plastic and metal, but there is none for discarded electronic devices.
Besides, Israel is also running out of room to dump its e-waste, and many of the toxic chemicals used in the equipment, such as mercury, can affect groundwater sources, he said.
This is, however, not a charity project, Goell said, adding that the firms should be able to make profit by the second year of operation.