eDay haul up on last year’s total, three tonnes from the Bay alone
TDC Environmental Educator Claire Webster (2nd from left) with the team of volunteers who assisted with last week's eDay at Fonterra's Takaka site.
Takaka recyclers contributed three tonnes to the national total of more than 966 tonnes of old computer equipment and mobile phones in the third national eDay last Saturday.
The total is up on the 946 tonnes collected last year, and includes more than 82,700 computer items like monitors, CPUs and printers.
The free drive-through recycling event saw 15,700 carloads of electronic waste (e-waste) dropped off at 38 centres from Kaitaia to Invercargill.
“There’s a clear need for e-waste disposal services as again we see strong support for eDay this year. The total amount of e-waste collected today is enough to fill 55 shipping containers,” said Laurence Zwimpfer, the national eDay co-ordinator.
Mr Zwimpfer said e-waste contains many valuable and scarce materials that can be recovered and reused for new products instead of being dumped in landfills.
Equipment collected on eDay is being transported to Auckland and Dunedin, where it will be sorted before being sent to accredited recycling companies in South Korea. “They are able to recover over 95 per cent of the materials in a computer for reuse, including precious materials such as copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver,” Mr Zwimpfer said.
Over 1,500 volunteers assisted in Saturday’s effort across the country, removing e-waste from cars, directing traffic and interviewing drivers about their awareness of e-waste issues.
“We look forward to a long-term sustainable solution through the implementation of the Government’s Waste Minimisation Act. However, until comprehensive e-waste recycling schemes are fully operational, we expect eDay will need to be held for a few more years. W’ve already had interest from some communities who weren’t able to participate this year and are keen to sign up for 2010,” Mr Zwimpfer concluded.
Households and businesses are advised to visit www.eday.org.nz for more information about e-waste and detail on how to dispose of e-waste after eDay.
Neil Wilson
