How does recycling your electronic waste (e-waste) for the return of gold and silver rewards sound to you? Yes, you heard it right! Telcov, a Malaysian company, is helping to convert e-waste into gold and silver as part of its commitment to address the growing e-waste crisis in the country.
Introducing Telcov and its Founder
Meet Telcov and its founder, Vimalan Arumugam, whose creative visualization, hard work, and drive came up with the creative idea of using e-waste as useful materials in promoting a sustainable circular economy. He realized that it was possible to launch his e-waste social venture upon realizing that e-waste, though posing severe threats to human health and the environment, had quickly become the world’s fastest-growing waste stream.
In Malaysia, this was contributed by 360 kilo tonnes of junk dumped by unregulated operators at illegal sites and landfills in 2019, which caused an outcome of uncontrolled pollution and unethical manner of waste management. New upgrades were coming up in a very short time, and due to accelerated performance in the past few decades, the technology showed an increase in the quantity of e-waste generation.
“It’s for this reason that we first learnt about the urban mining model, which is a concept coined by Professor Hideo Nanjyo of the Research Institute of Mineral Dressing and Metallurgy at Tohoku University in the 1980s,” said Vimalan.
Turning E-Waste into Valuable Resources
Telcov’s model is quite simple. First, there is the actual collection or procurement of these assets through a tripartite approach, its mobile app, scheduled collection areas, or target drop-off points from waste generators such as households, factories, scrap collectors, and government contracting agents. In its state-of-the-art facility, in expert hands, electronic components are carefully dismantled, and precious raw materials extracted in mint condition through leading mechanical and chemical treatments upon acquisition.
Valuable raw materials that are usually recovered include aluminum, brass, copper, iron, platinum, silver, and gold. The recovered materials, upon harvesting, are then used to produce precious metal rewards. One special aspect of these rewards is the offering of high-purity bullion or certified gold or silver bars, 10 grams of pure silver or 1 gram of pure gold bar, respectively, as redemption against the value of the asset in question.
“We are confident of the silver or gold bar’s compelling value proposition to motivate environmentally conscious consumers to practice proper recycling. Our intention is to also create an opportunity for all consumers to own a world-class precious metal bullion with the simple act of recycling,” said Vimalan, founder of Telcov. Besides the precious gold and silver bullions, consumers can also opt for cash trade-offs as a revenue stream for their recycled gadgets.
The Journey and Achievements of Telcov
Telcov was first established in 2019 as a sole proprietorship known then as VR Industries Enterprise, and it started out by recycling through partnerships with licensed entities. It rebranded into Telcov the following year, in 2021. A year later, in 2022, the firm raised more than RM3 million through equity crowdfunding from investors in 14 countries and obtained its own license for a recycling facility from the authorities.
Today, the Semenyih factory in Selangor is a Department of Environment-approved facility adhering to international standards and licensed to process up to 300 metric tonnes of electronic waste per month for both domestic and corporate sectors. As of now, Telcov has managed to extract RM1.5 million and counting in gold, silver, and palladium from e-wastes.
Expansion into Lithium Battery Recycling
“Additionally, we are envisioning our business expansion into lithium battery recycling to continue differentiating our offerings from other competitors,” said Vimalan. He added that the global e-waste market is bursting with potential, and he is hopeful about the future given the world’s increasing reliance on technology. At the same time, he reasoned that it is people’s civic responsibility to dispose of their assets the right way to negate environmental impacts and pollution.
“With silver, for example, it is an important material in the production of solar panels. Hence, we are merely harnessing these resources that are no longer of service so that they don’t end up wasted while elsewhere, people are digging up more of such resources that are already scarce and detrimental to the planet.”
Download the Telcov app on your Android or iOS mobile, and start disposing of and recycling your e-waste. The redeemable points—calculated from the value of the e-waste—are updated in your app within 24 hours from when your electronics reach Telcov’s recycling facility.
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