The ceremony was led by the Environment Minister of Chile, Maria Ignacia Benitez, the General Manager Chile LAN Airlines, Enrique Elsaca and the Chilenter Foundation Executive Director, Sergio Larrain.
Enrique Elsaca, General Manager LAN in Chile, said: "Easter Island is a destination of great importance to LAN and we are committed to developing sustainable tourism. That is why we have led concrete initiatives to protect the environment and to be, in this regard, a strategic partner with the island."
Through an appeal made to the Rapa Nui community, more than three thousand kilos of electronic waste were able to be collected, including computers, laptops, keyboards and mice.
REUSING ELECTRONIC WASTE
Computers are composed of 25% of reusable components, 72% of recyclable materials such as plastics, ferrous metals, aluminum, copper, gold, nickel, tin and 3% of toxic elements such as lead and mercury, and optimal treatment of these prevents polluting waterways, soil and air. Also by recycling computer equipment, precious metals are recovered, resulting in savings of up to 80% of the costs of primary production of these, through traditional mining.
The parts that cannot be reused go on to a sorting line, which is to classify the pieces and parts, which are sent to national and international recycling companies in charge of recovering the vast majority of metals: gold, silver, copper, among others. This way, the metals are removed to be reused as raw material.