e-Waste a problem we need to address
I was listening to an interview with a guy from HP discussing the problem of e-Waste this morning on the Sky News Eco Report. Although the major electronics companies are offering recycling and building their computers in a way that allows them to do so and retain some value so that the recycling becomes more cost effective ( screws not glue etc helps here), there are 1.6 million computers per year going to landfill in Australia. The problem, other than the waste, is the issue of the lead and mercury in the computers ending up in the groundwater. HP said that they have been offering recycling since the 1980s.
This problem needs to be a 3 way partnership between government to set the incentives, the computer industry to offer the recycling facility and the community to hand them in instread of putting them in the bin when they are past their use by date.
Provision of recycling facilities by industry is expensive and does need both the government incentives and the will of the consumers to pay the little extra to cover this. When people buy, they have very different priorities. Some are interested in being sustainable, others want the fastest and best regardsless and others want the cheapest - plus many more criteria as well. Quite a problem for industry to supply what is wanted.
Mobile phones are another form of e-waste and there is an organization called Mobile Muster that deals with this but my old mobiles are still sitting in a bag waiting for me to find out where the nearest Mobile Muster station is. At least they are not in a bin. Recycling works better when it is easy. We are all so busy these days.
My local stationary shop has just put a big toner recycling bin inside their front door and they are astonished at how fast it fills up. It is a great service and people do stop and buy the extra bits there while they drop off the old toners.
Technorati Tags: eWaste, Sky News Eco Report, recycling, partnership, government, recycling facility, community
May 11th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Dear Jean
Great to see you have prepared your mobiles for recycling. There are two ways to recycle them
1. Drop them off at your local mobile phone retailer eg. Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, 3 Mobile, Allphones, Fone Zone and Crazy Johns stores or your local Cartridge World store, or ANZ Branch if you are in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra or Melbourne or participating local councils - just go to www.mobilemuster.com.au and type in your suburb or postcode to find your nearest collection point. There are over 3000 nationwide (including coober pedy!)
2. Pick up a recycling satchel at participating Australia Post outlets - just go up to counter and ask for one - you can pop your mobile, battery, charger and accessories in this and drop in a street mail box
Also for those people who recycle their mobiles between now and World Environment Day 5 June - MobileMuster and Landcare Australia will plant a native tree as part of the joint initiative Old Phones More Trees. Last year we collected enough handsets to start planting 75,000 trees across Austarlia - this year we hope to collect enough to plant 100,000 trees.
For more information go to www.mobilemuster.com.au or call 1300 730 070
Kind regards
Rose Read
Manager Recycling
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
May 14th, 2008 at 12:04 am
Thanks Rose