WEEE: one in two young people consider waste electronic equipment as mysterious objects

It grows among the youngest there familiar with the acronym Raee (Waste from electrical and electronic equipment) but there are still many people who are unaware of what they are and, much less, how to get rid of them. This is revealed by theWEEE Observatory realized by Ipsos on behalf of Erion Weeethe non-profit multi-consortium system that currently represents 1,600 companies engaged daily in the management of WEEE as well as waste from tobacco products and textiles.

In particular, although the percentage of Gen Z members who say they have heard the acronym WEEE mentioned has almost doubled in the last 12 months, going from 26% in 2022 to 50% in 2023, half of young people aged between 18 and 26 do not yet know the topic or its environmental implications. A gap which, for 40% of the youngest, should be filled by developing ad hoc communication and awareness initiatives. A commitment that Erion Weee has decided to make its own through the involvement of 10 ‘content creators’ who, with simple and direct language, will have the task of promoting good practices for collecting and recycling this waste on the relevant ‘social networks’.

“We continue to say that young people represent the future but then we do little to provide them with the knowledge necessary to adopt more sustainable behaviors – he declares Giorgio Arienti, general director of Erion Weee – Not only are we convinced that the best way to raise awareness among young generations is to offer them content in which they can recognize themselves, through faces known to them that act as positive examples, but we also believe that a commitment that all of us should make is to respond proactively to their request for more information”.