Where do old TVs and computers go once they’ve played their last rerun of I Dream of Jeannie or last game of Grand Theft Auto?
They used to disappear into tips, polluting the environment with lead and mercury.
Now they’re increasingly being recycled. And a Thomastown company is at the forefront of the change.
Ron Robinson says his company, SRS Recycling, is processing 80 tonnes of televisions and 20 tonnes of computers weekly. This is five times the volume recycled when the business started nine years ago.
But he estimates the volume will quadruple under the federal government’s national television and computer recycling scheme. The scheme requires big players in the television and computer industry such as Sony and Panasonic to fund and run the disposal of e-waste.
From July 1, TV and computer manufacturers and importers are required to be signed up for collection and recycling services. The government says the services must be operating by the end of 2013.
This means the public must have reasonable access to drop-off points for the unwanted electronics. By July 1, 2013, the aim is to recycle 30 per cent of discarded TVs and computers; in 2010 that figure was 17 per cent.
Previously recycling companies had to be selective in the material they set aside in order to make a profit.
The scheme allows people with an unwanted TV to leave it at a council transfer station or tip where it will be collected for the recyclers.
At SRS, electronic gear is dismantled to its smallest elements - each TV takes five minutes; a computer takes three to four minutes.
Plastic casings are melted down to be made into park benches and bumper bars. Copper is reused in wiring and cables. Computer RAM and hard drives can be sold and reused. Gold, silver and platinum are recovered from circuit boards.
Mr Robinson said most TVs now being recycled are the old-style cathode ray tube (CRT). He said SRS plans to recycle the glass tubes containing lead, with options including crushing them into road base or sending them to an Adelaide company that separates the lead glass from pure glass and sends both to Asia to be used in new TV and computer screens.
