HISTORIC E-RECYCLING BREAKTHROUGH

Saturday, 29 August 2009 01:18

Environment Victoria’s campaigner Fraser Brindley said the new system would be no trouble at all for consumers and would mean most of the 16.8 million computers and TVs thrown away each year would be recycled.
“Instead of dumping old or broken TVs and computers on the nature strip, consumers would be able to drop off their e-waste at one of the specialised recycling depots,” he said.
The Customs Import Model is one of nine options put forward by the federal government in its recently released Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) for televisions and computers.
Environment Victoria, the Total Environment Centre (TEC), Product Stewardship Australia (PSA) and recyclers MRI and Sims agreed to support the model because it will be simple to implement for everyone and will help stop e-waste from going to landfill.
Senior Vice President of SIMS Recycling, Kumar Radhakrishnan, said a Choice Modelling study “proves the community wants an e-waste recycling system and is willing to pay for it. With green groups and industry having reached consensus on the recycling model and the necessary investments, the government must act immediately and put the legislation in place.” 
Executive Director of the Total Environment Centre, Jeff Angel, said “this is a watershed moment where Australians' love of technology crosses paths with their love of the environment. It makes sense to tag imports for e-waste recycling rather than buying electronic goods and then dumping them as toxic products.”
Managing Director of MRI, Will Le Messurier, said a comprehensive television and computer recycling scheme will lead to the creation of hundreds of jobs.
“E-waste recycling is a complex and high-tech process that requires skilled labour to extract valuable and rare resources that would otherwise end in landfill,” he said. “This scheme will be a winner for both jobs and the environment.”
John Gertsakis, Executive Officer from Product Stewardship Australia, a not-for-profit industry body representing major televisions brands, said “the time has come for the federal government to match the commitments of TV suppliers with intelligent regulation that enables cost-effective environmental outcomes.”