Report sparks new fears over increasing amounts of toxic e-waste in NZ landfills

A new Government report on e-waste fails to provide the roadmap for a sustainable e-waste recycling solution, disappointing councils and communities and sparking fresh concerns over the increasing amounts of e-waste ending up in landfills.

The eDay Trust, organisers of the popular eDay computer recycling events, are joining councils and community groups across NZ in urging the Minister for the Environment, Dr Nick Smith, to disregard the report and proceed with a scheme for managing e-waste – the fastest growing waste stream in New Zealand and the world.

“There have been many reports previous to this one that concluded that an effective way forward is for a legislated product stewardship scheme for e-waste. This is effective in many OECD countries but New Zealand is lagging behind,” said Laurence Zwimpfer, Chair of the eDay NZ Trust.

“Government has been supportive of numerous initiatives to try and stem the tide of e-waste entering landfills. However while these initiatives have raised awareness of the issue, none of them have resulted in a long-term sustainable solution,” Mr Zwimpfer continued.

The eDay Trust advocates for a product stewardship scheme to be put in place – a scheme that 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 with regulatory support from Government was the single most important recommendation in the 179-page report on ewaste that was released by the eDay Trust in July 2011.

“Like other stakeholders, we have engaged in product stewardship workshops over many years and contributed to a variety of reports,” Mr Zwimpfersaid. “In our view, this latest report from the Ministry fails to adequately represent the views that were expressed so strongly at the stakeholder workshops. The call for the Government to declare e-waste a priority product under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 and progress a compulsory product stewardship regime was unanimous.”

“Our greatest concern is that this new report will set New Zealand back a further ten years. Our credibility as a ‘clean green’ country and an environmentally aware community is now on the line with electronic producers and recyclers; we cannot expect further engagement from them without a clear commitment that Government will play its part. “

“80,000 tonnes of e- waste is disposed of into landfills in New Zealand every year. Landfilling does not allow for recovery and reuse of valuable materials such as copper and gold. There's also a risk that hazardous substances dumped inappropriately will pollute our environment by leaching into surrounding land and waterways. For every year that we wait for the Minister to proceed on this product stewardship scheme, the problem gets worse,” he concluded.

For more information and to download the latest MfE e-waste report, visit http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/waste/e-waste-product-stewardship-framework-new-zealand

To read the eDay report outlining a product stewardship roadmap, visit www.eday.org.nz

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