Time to recycle e-waste
October is e-waste month and the South Waikato Achievement Centre and Gisborne District Council have joined forces to recycle.
E-waste collected in the Gisborne district during the month will be taken to the South Waikato Achievement Centre in Tokoroa for reusing or recycling.
Gisborne District Council waste minimisation officer Anne Lister said the South Waikato Achievement Centre employs over 120 disabled and disadvantaged in the South Waikato community.
‘‘Eighteen of these people work with the e-waste enterprise,’’ she said.
The Tokoroa e-waste recycling facility is currently processing over 50 tonne per month from the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Ruapehu region. It is achieving a 95 per cent recycled or re-use rate.
‘‘If a machine is being recycled, the drive is removed and shredded,’’ Lister said.
‘‘For equipment that still works or can be re-used, they electronically erase everything from the drive and then reload Windows for on sale.’’
The likes of computers and accessories, home printers and scanners, televisions, and mobile phones are all processed at the centre.
The South Waikato Achievement Centre works in close collaboration with similar operations in Invercargill and Auckland.