Over 250 tonnes of PlayStation; that’s 300,000 units of one of the most revolutionary pieces of hardware in video game history – Sony’s PlayStation One, will form the first stage of an enormous recycling project undertaken by one of the UK’s leading electronic recycling companies.
Redruth, an electronic waste company, has signed up with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to tear, rip, crush, shred and dispose plastic cases of PS One consoles that were returned to the company either for upgrades or refurbishment over the years. In the first year alone, 300,000 such cases will have their fates sealed as they are disintegrated to one day be reborn as pens and chairs.
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Although 300,000 may seem a large figure, it forms only a fraction of the 100 million PS One consoles sold in Europe, while another 200 million were sold in the rest of the world. Busy times ahead for the people at Redruth.
Hit the jump for the press release
Press release
Electronic Waste Company to help recycle thousands of PlayStation consoles
One of the UK’s leading electronic recycling companies has announced it is to carry out the first stage of recycling one of the world’s most pioneering and popular computer games consoles, the Sony PlayStation.
The Electronic Waste Company, based in Redruth, Cornwall, has signed contracts with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to shred and dispose of the plastic cases of the consoles for Sony operations in the whole of Europe.
The deal covers the processing of an estimated 250 tonnes, or 300,000 cases in the first year alone.
Routes for the recycled plastic have already been already identified including pens and chairs.
The PlayStation cases disposed of by the Electronic Waste Company come from consoles which have been returned for upgrades or refurbishment.
Damian Lambkin, The Electronic Waste Company’s Managing Director said: “We have cemented our position as the electronics recycling company of choice for businesses in the South West. Now, this contract with Sony is a real vote of confidence in our ability to deal with a range of associated materials at high volumes.”
The contract with Sony follows a significant investment by The Electronic Waste Company in new machinery which can process a range of plastics and generate high quality materials ready for the manufacture of new products.
The machinery can process plastics ranging from cling film through to the thickest of polyurethanes used, for example, in underground piping.
Gregor Margetson, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s Environmental Programmes Manager said: “The quality of materials produced at this stage of the recycling process is fundamental in enabling PlayStations to be effectively recycled. We work with experts in a number of fields to minimise the environmental impact of our operations and believe the Electronic Waste Company is able to meet our high standards.”
Around 300 million PlayStation consoles have been sold worldwide, since the launch of the original PlayStation in 1994. Around 100 million of those have been sold in Europe.
The Electronic Waste Company already processes plastics contained in the hundreds of tonnes of electronic and electrical goods that it handles each year, including end-of-life equipment from the NHS, councils, schools and major companies.
It pledges to reuse or recycle 100% of this equipment. Nothing collected or brought to The Electronic Waste Company is sent to landfill.
Damien commented: “We recently achieved ISO 9001 and 14001 for the quality of our environmental and managements systems and there is no doubt that this focus on quality is the key in attracting contracts of this scale.”
The company is now developing processes to remove other recyclable components from the PlayStation casings such as clips and foam and as a result of this recent growth now employs an additional 12 people its factory site in Pool.
