Waste rolls in for eDay 2009

Organiser says eDay 2009 was a success as nearly 1,000 tonnes of electronic waste is disposed of.

By James Heffield / Monday, September 14 2009

Wind and rain didn’t stop thousands of New Zealanders disposing of their electronic waste on Saturday, during eDay 2009.

The annual event, organised by Computer Access New Zealand (CANZ), gives Kiwis the chance to dispose of their old computers and mobile phones responsibly. The items that were dropped at 38 eDay waste stations around the country will be sorted and sent to recycling stations in South Korea.

CANZ chairman and eDay organizer Laurence Zwimpfer said the 966 tonnes of e-waste collected this year was an improvement on the 946 tonnes collected in 2008.
“There is a clear need for e-waste disposal services as again we see strong support for
eDay this year. The total amount of e-waste collected today is enough to fill 55 shipping
containers.”

People in Whangarei and Kerikeri had disposed of the highest quantity of e-waste per capita, while the turnout in Christchurch and central Auckland had been “lower than projected”.
Zwimpfer said equipment collected on eDay was being transported to Auckland and Dunedin where it will be sorted before being sent to accredited recycling companies in South Korea for recycling.

“Our partners use accepted international processes to ensure the safety of workers and
maximise recovery of materials. They are able to recover over 95 percent of the materials in a computer for reuse, including precious materials such as copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver.”
More than 1,500 volunteers had assisted CANZ to make this year’s eDay possible, he said.
An auction of dozens of collected items, some of which were “almost antiques”, was being held on Trade Me over the next two weeks. The money raised through the auction would help cover the costs of the event, which cost about $1 million to organize and run each year, Zwimpfer said.