E Waste In Adelaide
What is it? ‘E-waste’ or Electronic waste is the waste associated with the use and disposal of electronic equipment such as computers, televisions and printers. E-waste can contain a broad range of materials including toxic heavy metals, metal circuitry, mixed plastics, fire retardants and glass. Due to these hazardous type products E Waste Should not be disposed of in a landfill, recycling the goods helps save our environment. The problem with disposal of these items is growing significantly in Australia as there is a fast uptake and turnover of electronic products. Although Australia does not currently have a national e-waste recycling scheme, there are collection programs for some of these wastes. They include:

Computers and their Peripherals: There are a number of companies that either recycle, refurbish or reuse computers in your state. For locations in your area see the website recommended below. Also, The AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association) has set up an Environment Special Interest Group to develop a national approach to computer recycling.

Televisions: The Consumer Electronics Suppliers’ Association (CESA) has formed a not-for-profit company called Product Stewardship Australia Ltd, in order to promote and manage environmentally-sound disposal and recycling of TVs. Visit the website recommended below to keep up to date with the developments on this project.

Printers/Photocopiers: If they are still in good working order or are fairly new, reuse or refurbishment may be an option. For locations in your area see the website below or contact the manufacturer.

Printer Cartridges: The voluntary extended producer responsibility program called ‘Cartridges 4 Planet Ark’ is supported and funded by seven of Australia’s leading print manufacturers. All types and brands of printer cartridges are accepted for recycling.

Mobile Phones: The official mobile phone industry recycling program is called MobileMuster. It is run by AMTA (Australia Mobile Telecommunication Association) and is funded solely by its members. For more information on this program and other mobile phone recycling programs, visit …

http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/computers/AdelaideSA

Looking to clean the place up a little? Don’t want to throw all your waste into landfill?
Save the environment, by recycling as much as you can first.

If you reside in the City of Perth your council has organised some great recycling options for you.
Check out this website for all the information you need:

http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/council/PerthWA

It outlines how to dispose of a particular type of rubbish (from asbestos to check out bags!)provides info on curbside collections as well as drop off facilities.

It seems a lot of city councils are making big moves to introduce an ‘e-waste’ initiative, as the e-waste rubbish heaps grow 3 times faster than normal household waste. E-waste also has a lot of hazardous waste such as lead and mercury, which we do not want to expose into water ways. For more information on how and where to dispose of your e-waste check out your council websites.

If you are wanting to dispose of household waste, log onto ww.bookabin.com.au to find the best price we have available for a skip bin in your area.

E-waste is a major environmental problem - tons of resources, along with hazardous metals, are sent to landfill every year.  Here are nine reasons why eWaste recycling matters:

1. Each year 750,000 computers are sold in Victoria (3 million Australia-wide).
2. 560,000 computers in Victoria are redundant each year.  Three out of four used computers in Australia are dumped in landfill or stockpiled.
3. 182,875 are dumped in landfill each year in Victoria (731,500 in Australia).
4. In 10 years 1.77 million computers will be redundant each year.
5. The ACT is the only place that bans computer waste to landfill.
6. In five years, 30 countries will have take-back laws for electronics (Australia has no law).
7. Making one desktop computer and monitor uses the same amount of chemicals (22kg), water (1500kg) and fossil fuels (240kg) as a mid-size car.
8. The biggest computer users are small and medium businesses (28%); followed by large corporates (23%); government (18%); households (17%) and education (14%).
9. In just over a decade, the number of personal computers worldwide increased fivefold—from 105 million in 1988 to more than half a billion in 2002.

What to do with your used computer?  Computers contain a variety of toxic materials that make disposal hazardous to the environment. Until manufacturers take financial and logistical responsibility for the end-of-life of their products, consumers should be aware of current disposal options.

A typical computer monitor contains lead, barium and hexavalent chromium. Other toxic ingredients include cadmium in chip resistors and semiconductors, beryllium on motherboards and connectors, and brominated flame retardants in plastic casings. 70% of lead, cadmium and mercury in landfill comes from electronic waste.

RECYCLE OR REFURBISH IT!

1. Support Byteback: the first computer take back service of its kind in Australia. Byteback is a free service for residents and small business owners in Victoria who want to dispose of their old computers in an environmentally responsible way. The centre is located in the City of Boroondara.
2. Make use of purchasing power. Buy or lease a new computer only if needed and choose the most environmentally sound option - for example, look for labels indicating the machine is energy efficient.
3. Don’t throw away old electronics. Contact manufacturers that take back old computers – such as Dell – Ring them for a quote on pick up. Urge manufacturers to dispose products responsibly.
4. Ultimately you can make a difference by writing to your Federal or State Environment Minister or local member urging them to take action to bring Australia into line with the new international standard of producer responsibility.

For more ideas and further information visit Environment Victoria at http://www.envict.org.au/index.php

Electronic waste, “e-waste” or “Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment” (”WEEE”) is a waste type consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic device. Recyclable electronic waste is sometimes further categorized as a “commodity” while e-waste which cannot be reused is distinguished as “waste”. Both types of e-waste have raised concern considering that many components of such equipment are considered toxic and are not biodegradable. - Read more…

So what can you put in your skip bin?

General Waste: Typically anything involved with a “general cleanup around the house and section” that is neither liquid nor of a hazardous nature

Cleanfill / Hardfill: Any of the following: concrete, soil, sand, clay, rocks, rubble, bricks, sand, asphalt, and/or ceramic tiles

Green Waste: Any of the following: grass, leaves, tree trimmings, small branches and other organic materials

Still not sure of what you can put in your bin hire? Please contact us via our Live Chat and a member from our friendly customer service team will be happy to assist you with your enquiries.

www.bookabin.com.au - Making bin hire easy!