Kiwis have cleared their homes of more than 160 tonnes of old computer equipment and mobile phones in the first four hours of New Zealands national eDay.

The free drive-through event is being held in Invercargill, Wanaka, Alexandra, Queenstown, Wellington, Wanganui, Rotorua, Whakatane, Tauranga and Hamilton from 9am to 3pm today (Saturday 29 September), and on Aucklands North Shore and Manukau City from 10am to 2pm tomorrow (Sunday 30 September).

National organiser, Laurence Zwimpfer, said the response around the country so far today was phenomenal, with a mammoth 14,137 items from 3,813 cars collected by 1pm. Trade Me founder and eDay supporter, Sam Morgan, joined the Wellington collection this morning, delivering old computer equipment to the Westpac Stadium carpark site, while Green MP Nandor Tanczos rolled his sleeves up and worked at the Hamilton event at the corner of Empire & High Streets, Frankton.

Nandor said the public response was fantastic. "I thought there'd be a bit of stuff handed over but when I turned up & saw all this gear I thought 'far out'. It demonstrates that New Zealanders have been looking for an opportunity to get rid of old computer equipment in an environmentally conscious way and demonstrates the real need for companies producing electronic gear to take responsibility for the end-of-life disposal of their products," he said.

eDay gives people the chance to dispose of their old computer equipment and mobile phones quickly in an environmentally-friendly way, and is aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of e-waste dumped in landfills.

Mr Zwimpfer said e-waste and its toxic materials, including lead and mercury from old computers, is glosbally the fastest growing type of waste being sent to landfill - posing a potential toxic hazard for people, animals and the environment.

He said more than 250,000 obsolete computers are being stored in New Zealand homes. A recent survey by the CANZ estimated over 10 million electronic devices were being used in New Zealand, with nearly one million being added each year.

The total collected in the first four hours has tripled the amount handed in during a Dell pilot computer recycling day held in Wellington last year.

Only computers, computer peripherals, gaming consoles and mobile phones can be disposed of in the eDay collection. Other electronic equipment including televisions will not be accepted.

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

eDay 2007 is a drive-through event and is open to cars only. Businesses and schools are advised to visit www.eday.org.nz for alternate disposal options and more information about e-waste.

eDay 2007 is supported nationally by Computer Access New Zealand (CANZ), The Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Education, 2020 Communications Trust, Divers, Remarkit, TES-AMM, Dell and Trade Me.

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