Environment Waikato grant approved for electronic waste collection in Hamilton

Environment Waikato’s environment committee has recommended the council contribute $4,900 towards an electronic waste collection day in Hamilton on Saturday, 29 September.

The collection will give people a chance to conveniently dispose of old computers, electronic equipment and mobile phones.

The inaugural Hamilton event will be part of a national eDAY, after the first such collection was held in Wellington last year.

The collection in Hamilton is being organized by the Waikato 2020 Communications Trust, which aims to support the use of information and communications technology in the general community.

All electronic material collected will either be re-used or their raw materials recycled.

The trust expects to collect about 30-40 tonnes of ‘e-waste’.

The eDAY event in Hamilton will be at the old railway yards on the corner of Empire and High Streets in Frankton. Schools will also be able to drop off bulk loads of waste on Sunday 30 September.

The contribution to costs approved by the committee will cover a range of running costs for the event.

“The goals of this project are strongly aligned with Environment Waikato’s waste reduction programmes,” said the council’s natural heritage programme manager Kevin Collins.

The 2020 Communications Trust expects this event to become an annual one, providing an environmentally friendly way of disposing of electronic waste.