The Waste Commission of the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP) organized a special collection so that community members could dispose of toners, printer cartridges, radiographs, CDs, DVDs and floppy disks, last August 3rd.

If improperly disposed of, these products could take thousands of years to decompose, in addition to polluting and contaminating the environment. “The more material we can prevent from ending up in landfills and are able to reuse, the better”, says Profa. Thais Mauad, from the Department of Pathology at FMUSP, and president of the Faculty's Waste Commission.

From plastic, metallic components and small circuits, to toxic materials such as ammonia, chromium and methanol, these materials were directed to specialized companies to carry out the proper recycling. In total, 80 toners and cartridges, around 78 kilos of radiographs and 36 kilos of CDs, DVDs and floppy discs were collected.“

The campaign was very positive and collected a large amount of material, even considering that it only lasted one day”, celebrates teacher Thais Mauad. Whoever missed the opportunity, however, doesn’t need to worry. FMUSP members can contact the Waste Commission or go to the Ecopoint to discard products such as toners, printer cartridges, batteries, CDs, DVDs, floppy discs, radiographs , magnetic cards, metallic plastic packaging, double-sided sponges and writing instruments.