Managing e-waste
Australians are among the highest users of electronic and electrical gadgets and our farmers are no exception.
Having the internet and mobile digital technology available – even if it is not as good as we would like it to be – has resulted in many more electronic and electrical items being used in a farming context as well as in our homes.
This also means that at the end of their useful life, there is equally more e-waste.
This article all about e-waste. So what e-waste?
Put simply, e-waste is anything with a plug, cord or a battery required to make it operate.
It becomes waste when it is no longer in working order or we no longer require it because it is redundant.
Consequently, e-waste is growing at a three times faster than other waste streams.
In Victoria, the ban on e-waste going into any of our kerbside collection bins came into effect on 1 July, 2019.
To help in collecting e-waste, the State Government has provided councils with assistance to build new infrastructure at transfer stations and councils have placed additional collection points in public places.
This will help you take your e-waste to a better place.
Recycling e-waste is an important part of dealing with it at the end of its life.
But we can also do better to manage our electrical and electronic devices during their life?
We can lengthen their life or even repair them, so they do not need to be thrown away.
Some of us will remember a time when we
is rate took the time to repair items ourselves or find a tradie who could do repairs for us.
In Victoria, it is estimated about 109,000 tonnes of e-waste was generated in 2015. This volume is projected to increase to about 256,000 tonnes by 2035.
While keeping things out of landfill is an important part of dealing with e-waste, there are two other reasons for being pro-active about recycling our e-waste: • It contains valuable materials that can be reused. • It prevents hazardous materials from harming the environment or human health.
Most e-waste contains hazardous materials. These can range from heavy metals such as lead, and mercury to ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, CFCS, and flame retardants.
But there are also valuable and recyclable materials in many e-waste items.
With more than one-million mobile phones discarded in Australia every year, if we recycled all of them, we could recover up to 16 tonnes of copper, 350 kilograms of silver and 34 kilograms of gold.
Taking your e-waste to a better place is a statewide education program designed to help the community better understand options for disposal at the end of the e-waste life. Check with your local council for the closest drop off points.
Grampians Central West Waste and Resource Recovery Group will venture to the Mallee Machinery Field Days to share e-waste information tips and advice with patrons. • La Vergne Lehmanm is Grampians Central West Waste and Resource Recovery Group executive officer