DATE: 6 OCTOBER 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

eDay diverts 112 tonnes of computer waste from landfills

Bay of Plenty residents cleared their homes of 112 tonnes of old computer equipment and mobile phones on Saturday in New Zealand's second national eDay.

More than 2,200 carloads of electronic waste (e-waste) were dropped off at three centres in Tauranga, Rotorua and Whakatane. Tauranga had the second highest number of car loads of e-waste in the country after 1292 cars came through the drive-through recycling event at the Satara Cool Store, Mount Maunganui.

Fifty seven tonnes of e-waste was collected in Tauranga – the third heaviest amount in New Zealand behind Wellington –which was made up of 5262 items of computer equipment. This was more than double the amount collected in Tauranga last year when 26 tonnes were collected.

Whakatane collected 2543 items weighing 29 tonnes and Rotorua collected 2484 items weighing 26 tonnes.

Environment Bay of Plenty Pollution Prevention Manager Bruce Gardner said the response around the region was fantastic.

“We are particularly thrilled with the high numbers seen in Tauranga which saw around double the number of cars and tonnage,” Mr Gardner said.

Nationally the event, organised by the Computer Access New Zealand Trust (CANZ), saw more than 77,000 computer items, including monitors, CPUs and printers, diverted from landfills.

E-waste and its toxic materials, including lead and mercury from old computers, is globally the fastest growing type of waste, and much of this is ending up in landfills.

“Our aim for the day was to provide New Zealand households with a safe, sustainable way of disposing of their e-waste while at the same time educating them about the damage that e-waste in landfills can do to our environment. We have had a lot of positive feedback from people who were happy to see their old computer equipment being safely recycled,” Mr Gardner said.

Equipment collected on eDay was sorted at each drop-off site before being transported to Auckland where monitors are tested for possible re-use. Other equipment is sent to South Korea for recycling.

All equipment collected in New Zealand through eDay will be recycled by accredited recyclers who have advised us that more than 95% of the materials in a computer can be recovered and re-used. Precious materials such as copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver can all be recovered from e-waste and turned into new products instead of being dumped in landfills.

Households, businesses and schools are advised to visit www.eday.org.nz for more information about e-waste and detail on how to dispose of e-waste after eDay.

ENDS

eDay 2008 Results by area
Number of cars Number of items Total tonnage per area
Kaitaia 173 589 6
Kaikohe 50 570 6
Whangarei 351 2767 28
Auckland -Glen Innes 1033 5663 54
Tauranga 1292 5262 57
Whakatane 282 2543 29
Rotorua 645 2484 26
Opotiki 40 839 6
Gisborne 436 3564 42
Wairoa 51 1573 21
Napier 628 2940 32
Waipukurau 126 856 9
Hawera 154 657 7
New Plymouth 619 2473 28
Stratford 84 355 4
Wanganui 606 3383 21
Palmerston North 700 3981 43
Paraparaumu 924 3031 35
Masterton 501 2310 25
Wellington 2551 12234 122
Takaka 101 338 3
Nelson 910 4065 45
Blenheim 417 2163 22
Amberley 64 872 8
Christchurch 1225 6100 68
Queenstown 85 628 6
Wanaka 107 341 4
Alexandra 26 643 7
Dunedin 737 3428 40
Invercargill 367 2114 15

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