Drive-through computer recycling event helps keep toxic waste out of landfills
Wednesday 19 September 2007, 10:30PM
By Invercargill City Council
467 views
Invercargill residents can dispose of their old PCs, computer peripherals and mobile phones at the region’s first free eDay on September 29.
The drive-through event – being held at the NZ Army Drill Hall between 9am and 3pm – is an opportunity for residents to clear out their garages and cupboards of computer equipment and old mobile phones, to be recycled or disposed of for free.
Organiser, Donna Peterson of Invercargill City Council said eDay is giving local residents the chance to dispose of their e-waste quickly in an environmentally-friendly way, and aims to raise awareness about the dangers of electronic waste (e-waste) dumped in landfills.
“Our aim is to reduce the amount of e-waste dumped in our landfills each day,” she said.
The local event is part of a national eDay being held this weekend in 12 venues across the country.
National organiser, Laurence Zwimpfer, said e-waste and its toxic materials, including lead and mercury from old computers, is globally the fastest growing type of waste being sent to landfill - posing a potential toxic hazard for people, animals and the environment.
Mr Zwimpfer said more than 250,000 obsolete computers are being stored in New Zealand homes. A recent survey by the Computer Access New Zealand Trust (CANZ) estimated over 10 million electronic devices were being used in New Zealand, with nearly one million being added each year.
“With that many computers becoming redundant, and the options to dispose of them very limited, it is important that equipment is recycled or reused wherever possible,” Mr Zwimpfer said.
A Dell pilot computer recycling day held in Wellington last year resulted in 54 tonnes of home computer equipment being collected.
“That amount of e-waste collected from one region was phenomenal, considering it was a cars-only event and we didn’t target corporate organisations or government departments.” Mr Zwimpfer said.
Acting Minister for the Environment, Hon David Parker, said landfilling of e-waste was a danger to the environment. “Landfilling e-waste is a danger to our environment and does not allow for the recovery and reuse of material.
eDay is an excellent example of how we can divert e-waste from landfill, preventing harm to our precious environment. I urge New Zealand households to help clean up our e-waste by participating in eDay,” he said.
Only computers, computer peripherals, gaming consoles and mobile phones can be disposed of in the eDay collection. Other electronic equipment including televisions will not be accepted.
CANZ advises people to wipe all data from hard drives as well as removable media such as floppy disks and PC cards before handing them over for collection.
The event is supported nationally by CANZ, The Ministry for the Environment, 2020 Communications Trust, Divers, Remarkit and TES-AMM.
Local partners include – WasteNet Southland, Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council, Gore District Council, Rotary, Freight Haulage and Southland Enterprises Inc.
The event is being held at the NZ Army Drill Hall, Victoria Avenue from 9am to 3pm on Saturday 29 September 2007 and is open to cars only. Businesses and schools are advised to visit www.eday.org.nz for alternate disposal options and more information about e-waste.