On Saturday, March 23 of 2013, at 8:30 PM, the lights of many buildings on the world will be symbolically turned off for an hour. Since 2007, this initiative has been organized by WWF and aims to draw attention to environmental problems and the climate protection. In 2012, millions of people from more than 5 000 cities in 150 countries have joined this initiative. Also in Poland, the initiative was supported by 30 000 individuals from 50 cities. During “the Hour of the Earth” the lighting of facilities such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney Opera House or the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw.
This year, Warsaw Financial Center will join the action for the first time. In the office building, the lights will be symbolically turned off. The facility is owned by Allianz Real Estate and Curzon Capital Partners III of the investment fund, managed by Tristan Capital Partners.
DTZ, Jones Lang LaSalle, Knight Frank, Skanska and Stena Recycling have joined the WWF initiative. They jointly plan to gather 5 tons of electro waste, that is, used electric and electronic equipment. They invite their employees, clients and business partners to participate in this initiative.
The companies emphasize that the amount of e-waste is growing. It is caused by constant technological development and the need of old equipment update. The electro waste, which 20 to 50 million tons is annually removed around the world, contains harmful lead. Only 12.5 per cent of electro waste is being processed. It consists 2 per cent of waste of the dumpster sites, which is 17 per cent of total amount of toxic waste.