Samsung Electronics Celebrates Sharing Week with E-Waste Collection and Environmental Responsibility

Giving back to the communities is a powerful force that makes our society a better place. Samsung Electronics took the lead in community engagement by hosting the Samsung Sharing Week from November 1 to 14, where employees and volunteers participated in various local volunteer activities.

Samsung has a long-standing dedication to making a positive impact in society and empowering communities worldwide. As part of the activities, employees from Samsung South Africa actively participated in a week-long e-Waste collection project from November 1 to 8, 2024, gathering various electronic devices from their homes, including laptops, desktop computers, televisions, and mobile devices.

While the e-waste collection campaign is a recurring event as part of Samsung’s sustainability efforts, it was done with more gravitas in the seven days as a way to give employees an opportunity to walk the same talk. The collected e-waste, which also included that from Samsung’s service centre and warehouse, will be donated to Matongoni General Trading, a Johannesburg-based recycler specialising in post-consumer plastic waste and electronic materials. This initiative is particularly significant, as The World Counts reports that only 12.5% of e-waste is recycled, with a staggering 85% ending up in landfills.

Matongoni General Trading is a beneficiary of Samsung’s Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP), a key component of the company’s corporate social investment strategy aimed at fostering socio-economic development. The recycler will dismantle the collected e-waste into valuable fractions, including plastics and metals, which will be pre-processed and recycled into raw materials for new products.

“We are in business in part to contribute to the creation of more sustainable solutions to keep our environment clean and a better contribution to the circular economy. It is in everyone’s best interests to have more awareness about the safe handling of electronic waste. As a waste management and recycling company our biggest goal is to develop and maintain sustainable methods for a greener tomorrow. This is why we are appreciative of Samsung’s endeavours in collecting and donating e-waste to us as they have,” said Gundo Mariba, Key Accounts Manager at Matongoni.

“Samsung is dedicated to environmental sustainability that goes beyond our producer responsibilities,” said Lenhle Khoza, B-BBEE and Transformation Manager at Samsung South Africa. “As outlined in Samsung’s 2024 Sustainability Report, we are on ‘a journey towards a sustainable future,’ and electronic waste recycling is a vital intervention for a better tomorrow. Through this programme, we are making significant strides in responsible recycling and ensuring that potentially harmful materials are kept out of landfills.”

Samsung Electronics remains committed to contributing to a cleaner environment and empowering communities through innovative and responsible initiatives.