How to solve the ewaste crisis

Product stewardship the only way forward

eDay was only ever intended as a stop-gap measure until a permanent recycling solution, that is free to New Zealand households, is operational.

The eDay Trust is advocating for such a solution and we are calling on industry and Government to work together and permanently solve the increasing problem through a national co-regulatory ewaste product stewardship based recycling scheme.

Product stewardship means that the cost of recycling is built into the price of new products so New Zealanders can recycle responsibly at no extra cost when the equipment reaches end of life. 

The development of an industry-led product stewardship scheme was the single most important recommendation in the 179-page report on ewaste that we released in July this year.

Read the report here.

ewaste developments across the ditch

In Australia, the Product Stewardship Bill 2011 was enacted by both Houses of Parliament on 22 June 2011. The Product Stewardship Bill 2011 will ensure that waste minimisation and recycling in Australia are mandated on a national basis. The first scheme to be established under the new legislation will be a national, industry-led television and computer recycling scheme, which is to be phased in from the end of 2011.

The previous approach to ewaste that relied on voluntary industry initiatives failed to result in any significant environmental benefits - all Australian stakeholders therefore accepted that product stewardship and extended producer responsibility were the best solutions for addressing the growing mountains of ewaste.

We congratulate the Australian Government and IT industry for demonstrating ‘e-responsibility’.

Latest developments in New Zealand

We welcomed the announcement by the Minister for the Environment, the Hon Dr Nick Smith, that the government is planning to pursue a product stewardship scheme, similar to Australia, for managing ewaste but question why the Government says the scheme is still three years away.

Three years is too late for the analogue TV switch-off, which starts in 2012 and is to be completed by the end of 2013.

The industry and Government need to take urgent action on computer and TV recycling to ensure the hundreds of thousands of computers and televisions currently dumped in landfill each year are instead recycled.

We call on Nick Smith to explain why it needs to take 3 years, especially when the Australians developed legislation and regulations within 18 months (and New Zealand already has the legislation in place in the form of the Waste Minimisation Act)!

Join us in our call.

Email the Minister for the Environment, the Hon Dr Nick Smith, and ask him for urgent action on ewaste recycling.

Or head to our Facebook page to share your support.