KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Environment Department has collected up to 191,636 kilogrammes of e-waste between 2016 and last year.
Its director Amirul Aripin said it was one of the department's focuses to ensure the public and industries manage e-waste by not discarding them indiscriminately.
"E-waste, which is from electric and electronic items, if thrown indiscriminately, heavy metal (exposure) will affect the health of many people including causing cancer.
"It could also deteriorate the environmental ecosystem if it goes into the river (and other places)," he said when met after the launching of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 seminar at Sabah International Convention Centre here.
He said it was undeniable that the number of e-waste is indeed increasing, but Sabah was ready to tackle the issue.
Amirul said that Sabah has won an award from the federal government for having the most local authorities becoming e-waste collection centres in the country.
He added that to date, there were seven local authorities such as Kota Kinabalu City Hall, Beluran, Keningau, Sipitang, Papar, Kudat and Beaufort setting up centres for the collection of e-waste.
A non-governmental organisation, Tzu Chi also has e-waste recycling centres in Keningau, Tawau, Sandakan and here.
"E-waste has its own (industrial) benefits. There are elements in them that can be recovered," he said, adding the department has also encouraged federal and state government agencies to collect e-waste on a regular basis.
Present at the event was director-general Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaafar.
Earlier, Wan Abdul Latiff said the seminar aimed to provide participants with an understanding of the department's direction and the compliance requirements under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (EQA 1974) and its associated regulations.