E-day patch-up good news, but serious questions remain

Labour has welcomed the announcement that 2010's e-day will go ahead, but says it leaves Nick Smith with many serious questions to answer.

"First, what has happened to all the e-waste deposited last year", asks Labour's Environment Spokesperson Charles Chauvel? "Kiwis thought that they were delivering computer waste for recycling. Yet reportedly, much of this waste has been sitting on a wharf in Korea while a tug of war goes on about its ultimate destination. Will it stay there? Will it come back to New Zealand with some of it ending up in landfills? Will it go elsewhere, and if so where and at what cost? And what assurances are there that all 2010 e-waste will all be recycled?

"Secondly, why does the fate of e-day have to hang every year on the whim of the Minister for the Environment? Already in 2010 the day has been suspended, then reinstated, then been in doubt again, only to now be confirmed for next month. It is virtually impossible to plan a complex event with collection points around the country linked to a central recycling effort in circumstances of such uncertainty. If we are to have annual e-days, the Government needs to make an ongoing commitment to them.

"Thirdly, why doesn't the Government make it easy every day for kiwis to recycle their computer waste? If Nick Smith promoted a product stewardship scheme under the Waste Minimisation Act for e-waste, it would simply be a matter of taking old computing gear back to retail points and exchanging it for new. The scheme could be widened to include old TVs and other electronic equipment. And exchanging old waste for new goods could happen on 365 days of the year, instead of one, as is now the case", Charles Chauvel said.