Five ways you can reduce your electronic waste:
- Think about what you're buying. You don't need to buy a new TV for the digital switchover. A digital receiver (set-top box) will also work.
- Use our appliance reliability reports to help choose reliable longer-lasting brands.
- Quiz companies about their recycling options if you're making a new purchase.
- Find out if there's an e-Cycle site in your town (see e-Cycle sites). If not, lobby your council to support one.
- Take advantage of other e-waste recycling schemes. Fisher and Paykel runs a free recycling service for old fridges and freezers (of any brand) in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The company will pick up from your home. Retailers such as Bond & Bond and Noel Leeming take back old mobile phones.
Waste watching
In July 2009, a "waste levy" of $10 a tonne was introduced on all waste going to a landfill. The Waste Minimisation Act requires levy income to be spent on waste-reduction projects. Last year, around $6.5 million was distributed through the Waste Minimisation Fund.
Of the 25 projects funded in 2010, by far the largest grant went to the Glass Packaging Forum (a whopping $1.6 million) to set up public recycling bins in regions hosting rugby world cup games. It's estimated the project will collect 9000 tonnes of rubbish, which the Forum says is equivalent to 27 million beer bottles, 286 million plastic drink bottles and a similar number of aluminium cans.
The majority of projects funded last year received grants of under $200,000. A Ministry for the Environment review of all 25 projects rated 10 as "good", eight as "adequate" and one as "poor" (the ministry says it "no longer has concerns" about this project). The review concluded it was too early to tell whether the remaining six projects "were delivering against their outcomes".
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