In a region like Tuscany, which is more attentive and sensitive to environmental issues than the Italian average, less than a fifth of citizens demonstrate that they actually know what is meant by WEEE, Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

This is what emerges from the survey conducted by the Demopolis Institute for ANCI Toscana, as part of the Life WEEE Project which - also with the involvement of the Department of the Environment of the Tuscany Region - aims to make citizens aware of the disposal and exploitation of waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment: the so-called WEEE.

The average level of perceived dangerousness of WEEE is considerable, even among the least informed citizens: on a scale of 1 to 10, it settles on a considerable 8. Yet, in the disposal of equipment the Tuscans sometimes make a mistake.

The Demopolis Institute survey has verified the methods of disposal applied by Tuscan families in the last 5 years for different types of equipment. For the elimination of large appliances, the use of the "institutional" channel - through the Municipalities and the Ecological Islands - is the most recorded behavior.

"With the reduction of the size of the equipment - explains the director of Demopolis Pietro Vento - the segment of citizens that operates according to suitable methods of disposal and dangerous behavior grows is reduced. For example, for the elimination of telephones and smartphones, while only 4 out of 10 respondents declare a recourse to collection centers, 29% claim to have kept the equipment at home, also due to the lack of knowledge on how to dispose of them correctly. And 15% eliminates them with plastic, metals or in undifferentiated, depending on the product. It is still partial - concludes the director of Demopolis Pietro Vento - the knowledge of the regulatory instruments designed to favor a correct management of WEEE ".

For example, it is only 56% of the knowledge of the Tuscans on the obligation of sellers of electrical and electronic products to free collection of equipment no longer used, against the purchase of a new equivalent product; 44% do not know the possibility offered by the decree Uno against one of June 2010.

It is therefore not a coincidence that 76% of Tuscans interviewed by the Demopolis Institute would like to be better informed on how to dispose of WEEE.

The Tuscany Region, as far as WEEE is concerned, today has good performance in terms of collection per capita, with a figure higher than the national average. But there is a vast possibility of improvement, which passes right from the growth of the awareness of the citizens to which the project of ANCI Tuscany and the Region aims, in the belief that alongside the urgency of protecting the environment, WEEE is an effective treasure from rediscover.

Informative note
The survey was conducted by the Demopolis Institute for ANCI Toscana in the framework of the Life WEEE Project. The survey was carried out on a sample of 2,000 respondents, statistically representative of the universe of the Tuscan age population, stratified by gender, age group and area of ​​residence. In-depth study and complete methodology on: www.demopolis.it