Are You Ready for eDay?

A clean-up of electronic waste from homes throughout the region is getting ready for your donations.

eDay 2010 is coming – and you can have your outdated computers, faxes, printers, mobile phones and digital cameras recycled as part of a free nationwide e-waste collection.

“We expect to collect 40 tonnes of e-waste in New Plymouth District alone through eDay – and up to 1,300 tonnes nationally that would otherwise have gone to waste in landfills,” says NPDC Manager Environmental Strategy and Policy Colin Comber.

“Recycling old PCs, computer peripherals, mobile phones and digital cameras through eDay will enable the recovery of valuable materials such as gold, copper and aluminium so they can be reused.”

eDay will again be held at NPDC’s Parks Depot at 65 Hobson Street (next to the AA vehicle testing station) in New Plymouth, the transfer station on Cordelia St, Stratford, and the Camberwell Road Car Park at the TSB Hub, Hawera.

This year the event runs from 9am to 3pm on Saturday 6 November.

“We received fantastic support from Taranaki residents at last year’s event and we are delighted to again give the community the chance to dispose of their old computer equipment in an environmentally friendly way,” says Mr Comber.

“We’re also looking for volunteers to help out on the day, and they can contact us on enquiries@npdc.govt.nz or phone 06-759 6060.”

eDay 2010 is a drive-through community event aimed at households, schools and small businesses, and is open to cars only. Businesses or organisations with large quantities of e-waste are advised to visit http://www.eday.org.nz/ for alternate disposal options and more information about recycling options.

Says eDay New Zealand Chairperson Laurence Zwimpfer: “We had hoped to be able to include TV sets and home hi-fi equipment this year as 25 per cent of the 16,000 people disposing of equipment at last year’s eDay indicated they have an old TV waiting for disposal. But unfortunately we can’t include them.

“The channels for recycling this equipment are not sufficiently well developed so we encourage everyone to hold onto old TVs for just a bit longer.”

The national partners and supporters of eDay include KiwiRail, More FM, the Blue Star Group, Trade Me, The Laptop Company and Invo. Taranaki support is being led by New Plymouth District Council, Taranaki Regional Council, Lamberts Business Systems, Timpack, Transfield Worley and Fulton Hogan.

“Electronic waste is now one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world so we thank the Minster and our other eDay partners for their support,” said Mr Zwimpfer.

The 2020 Communications Trust and the Ministry for the Environment are working together to ensure the e-waste collected in 2010, and the last of the 2009 e-waste, continues to be handled safely and processed in an environmentally sound manner.