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Task force in Presidente Prudente gathers collection, volunteering, and environmentally correct disposal for unused electronic equipment, with accumulated impact since 2009 and mobilization carried out in June in the districts and fixed points of the city.
Presidente Prudente, in the interior of São Paulo, has already removed more than 800 tons of electronic waste from circulation through the Electronic Waste Task Force, a municipal initiative carried out since 2009 to expand the correct disposal of unused equipment.
Coordinated by the Municipal Department of Information Technology, the action encourages residents to separate useless electronic devices and appliances, preventing these materials from being discarded in vacant lots, green areas, public roads, or places without adequate environmental control.
In 2025, the task force collected 47 tons of electronic waste, a volume formed by equipment of different sizes and categories that were prevented from going to common disposal.
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Among the items most delivered by the population are monitors, televisions, printers, and computers, as well as notebooks, keyboards, mice, batteries, electronic accessories, and unused appliances.
The mobilization also included the expected participation of about 300 volunteers, responsible for supporting the organization, receiving the materials, and guiding the routing of the equipment delivered at the collection points.
Presented as the largest action of its kind promoted by a city hall in the country, the initiative combines community participation, environmental education, and reverse logistics to reduce the irregular disposal of electronic devices.
Electronic waste disposal reduces environmental risk
Electronic equipment requires specific treatment because many components should not be abandoned with common waste, especially when there is a risk of irregular disposal in areas without the infrastructure to receive this type of material.
When sent to inappropriate locations, these wastes can impact the soil, water, and urban environment, in addition to hindering the reuse of parts, metals, plastics, and other components present in the devices.
With proper disposal, part of the materials can return to the production chain, reducing the need for the extraction of new natural resources and increasing the use of items that still have value for recycling.
This process depends on sorting, transportation, and environmentally correct treatment, steps that do not occur when broken or old devices are abandoned on streets, lots, or discarded with household waste.
All the volume collected in the campaign is forwarded to the Brazilian Association of Electronics and Home Appliances Recycling, responsible for reverse logistics, recycling, and environmentally appropriate treatment of the received waste.
Provided for in Federal Decree No. 10,240/2020, the reverse logistics of household electronic products establishes rules for the structuring, implementation, and operation of this system in Brazil.
The rule deals with equipment and components placed on the domestic market and determines the environmentally appropriate final destination of the received products, reinforcing the shared responsibility for the life cycle of these materials.
Collection of electronics in districts and neighborhoods
The task force’s schedule began in the districts of Presidente Prudente, with an itinerant collection organized to facilitate the delivery of equipment by residents of different regions of the municipality.
The service was scheduled for Ameliópolis, from 8:00 to 8:30; Eneida, from 9:00 to 9:30; Floresta do Sul, from 10:00 to 11:00; and Montalvão, from 14:00 to 15:00.
In the urban area, fixed points operated in different regions of the city, expanding options for those who needed to dispose of broken, old, or replaced devices with newer versions.
Parque do Povo, in the parking lot near Fundação Mirim, received materials from 8:00 to 16:00, while Praça do CEU do Parque Alvorada, Praça do Wi-Fi do João Domingos Netto, and the parking lot of UBS do Ana Jacinta served from 9:00 to 13:00.
With the decentralization of delivery locations, the campaign sought to reduce barriers for residents who accumulated equipment at home and had not yet found a safe way to forward these items.
Cell phones, chargers, cables, microwaves, fans, drills, computers, printers, and other devices could be delivered at the indicated points, as long as they were within the categories accepted by the campaign.
Recycling of electronics mobilizes residents
Created in Presidente Prudente, the task force has established itself as an environmental education activity by bringing the population closer to a stage often ignored in the life cycle of electronic products.
After a device stops working, disposal does not end with the removal of the device from home, because these materials need to proceed to a system capable of properly treating their components.
The presence of volunteers reinforced the collective nature of the action, as this support helped organize the flow at collection sites and improved the guidance given to residents during delivery.
In addition to making service faster at busier points, the mobilization expanded the campaign’s reach and strengthened the link between public service, sustainability, and community participation.
Since the first editions, the accumulated impact has become one of the main indicators of the initiative, because the more than 800 tons already collected represent a significant volume of waste removed from circulation.
Added over the years, small deliveries made by residents help form a chain of proper disposal, preventing old equipment from remaining unused or ending up in inappropriate places.
Despite the progress, the challenge still lies within homes, where devices stored in closets, drawers, garages, and utility areas remain an important part of electronic waste that could be recycled.
By concentrating dates, times, and drop-off points, the task force functions as a public service for organized disposal, allowing the population to properly dispose of materials that often remain forgotten for years.
The campaign takes place in a scenario of constant electronic consumption, marked by the frequent replacement of cell phones, computers, accessories, and appliances across different income levels and family profiles.
Without proper routing, these products can remain stored for long periods or be discarded in an environmentally harmful way, reducing the possibilities for reuse and specialized treatment.
In Presidente Prudente, the task force focuses on collection, awareness, and technical routing of materials, with direct participation from residents, support from volunteers, and environmentally safe disposal of collected waste.
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