About 1 per cent of unwanted televisions and other e-waste is being recycled through a government- backed recycling scheme, with the bulk of the rest dumped in landfills or disposed of illegally.
The estimate was provided by national recycler RCN on the eve of the closure of analogue television transmissions in Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast, which could lead to more old TVs being dumped. RCN has received $1.4 million from the Government to set up a network of more than 50 e-waste drop-off points and three recycling centres.
However, a $20 charge for recycling cathode-ray televisions and a $14 charge for bulky computer monitors - another problematic e-waste item - have led many people to seek less environmentally friendly ways of disposing of waste, RCN e-waste general manager Jon Thornhill concedes.
E-waste campaigner Laurence Zwimpfer has said it is unrealistic to expect consumers to pay for recycling if they can chuck e-waste into a landfill for about a 10th of the cost.
Zwimpfer, who was last year made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to information technology, helped set up the now-defunct annual eDay where people could leave computers for free recycling at temporary collection points.
Thornhill said in 2006, it was believed Kiwis disposed of about 80,000 tonnes of e-waste each year.
RCN had collected about 400 tonnes between September and June through its government-backed scheme, though volumes had since risen to about 60 tonnes a month.
Thornhill said the charges and that people could cheaply dump old televisions and other e-waste in landfills did not help but public awareness was also an issue.
He acknowledged there were other recycling companies offering lower charges than RCN in the main centres.
However, he said RCN offered drop-off points, which needed to be considered when comparing its fees.
“In Queenstown, Invercargill or Kaitaia, it is a very different story.”
RCN has national pricing “to keep it consistent”.
There were also fly-by-night operators that accepted e-waste for free, stripped it of valuable components and illegally dumped or exported the rest, he said.
“I know that is happening.”
While New Zealand was behind other countries in tackling e-waste, Thornhill believed it was moving in the right direction.
“It is not like we are behind and doing nothing.”
He believed there should be mandatory “product stewardship” schemes that forced manufacturers to take back and recycle e-waste.
The infrastructure RCN had established could be a precursor for that, he said.
In Auckland this week, recycler Abilities Group launched the first United Nations-approved technology for recycling TV tubes in the country. The tubes can be safely harvested for their component parts.
