eDay to clean up Bay of Plenty’s e-waste

Bay of Plenty residents can dispose of their old PCs, computer peripherals, mobile phones and digital cameras free at eDay on Saturday 12 September.

eDay, a free nationwide computer recycling event, is expected to divert over 1,000 tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) from landfills nationally and 142 tonnes locally and will enable the recovery of valuable materials such as gold, copper and aluminium so they can be reused.

Following the success of last year’s event, eDay will be held again in Rotorua, Tauranga and Whakatane from 9am to 3pm.
“We received fantastic support from Bay of Plenty residents at last year’s event and we are delighted to be involved again this year and give our community the chance to dispose of their old computer equipment in an environmentally friendly way,” said Environment Bay of Plenty Chairman John Cronin.

The drive-through event is part of a national eDay being held in more than 40 centres across the country.

e-waste is the fastest growing and one of the most challenging waste problems in the world and New Zealand is no exception; over 87,000 computer related items were diverted from local landfills at last year’s eDay. All equipment collected as part of eDay will be recycled by accredited international recyclers.

The annual eDay event is now in its third year and is the only national community-driven e-waste recycling event for dropping off computer items such as monitors, CPUs and printers, at no cost to the public.

CANZ advises people to wipe all data from computer hard drives as well as removable media such as floppy disks and PC cards before handing them over for recycling.

eDay 2009 is a open to cars only. Businesses and schools or organisations with large quantities of e-waste are advised to visit www.eday.org.nz for alternate disposal options and more information about recycling options. Only computer equipment, mobile phones and digital cameras can be recycled in the eDay collection. Other electronic equipment including televisions and stereos will not be accepted.

The event is supported nationally by The Ministry for the Environment, the 2020 Communications Trust and the Ministry of Education which funds the Computer Access NZ Trust. National transport operator KiwiRail and international e-waste recyclers CRTNZ are national partners again in 2009 Corporate sponsors include Meridian Energy, More FM, Dell, Canon, Printlink, The Laptop Company, Invo, Trade Me and NZICT.

ENDS

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