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E-scooters graveyard: Wheeled in and taken apart

Thousands of e-scooters collected at disposal points are being stripped down by e-waste recycling firms into as many as 20 parts

Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
E-scooters collected by Metalo, an e-waste recycling company, fill the courtyard beside Block 547 Woodlands Drive 16. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
Siblings Wang Ruoqi, two, and Wang Ruoxi, four, standing in line with their mother Shen Yu Hui (left), 32, and maid who were turning in their e-scooters at a disposal point in Jurong West. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
Pump attendant Wee Kang Choo (right), 71, dismantling the seat of his e-scooter with help from a friend. He had planned to trade in his e-scooter under the LTA's early-disposal scheme in order to receive the $100 incentive, but discovered that he did not qualify as he had not registered his vehicle. He decided to keep the four-month-old e-scooter, which cost just under $1,000. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
DISMANTLE: A Virogreen employee selecting a screw tip to dismantle an e-scooter, which can be stripped down into as many as 20 components. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
REMOVE: Batteries from dismantled e-scooters being packed to be shipped to another company which specialises in battery recycling. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
SORT: The individual components of an e-scooter that has been dismantled. The parts are then sorted based on material. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen’s warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
The queue at a designated disposal point in Jurong West. At one disposal point in Woodlands last month, there were more than 80 people standing in line most of the time. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Mr Shawn Tan (front) and Mr Khairul dismantling e-scooters at their workstation in Virogreen's warehouse in Tuas. Each of them dismantles about 20 PMDs a day. The long queue at a designated e-scooter disposal point at a multi-storey carpark behind Na
Mr Umar Abdullah (in white), 55, having his three-year-old e-scooter assessed. He said he had used the device to go to the market and take his granddaughter to school. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Toh Ting Wei , Gavin Foo 
Updated
Dec 16, 2019, 11:33 PM
Published
Dec 16, 2019, 05:00 AM
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At a warehouse in Tuas, workers from electric waste recycler Virogreen have been hard at work dismantling e-scooters for the past three months.

Within 15 minutes, the workers - four or five depending on their roster - can each expertly strip down an e-scooter into up to 20 components. Their work on the devices will continue for some time yet.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 16, 2019, with the headline E-scooters graveyard: Wheeled in and taken apart. Subscribe

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