E-waste day collects 36 tonnes from city

Dunedin came up short in its goal to divert 45 tonnes of e-waste from its landfill during eDay on Saturday.

eDay, a national free computer component and phone recycling event, was expected to divert more than 1000 tonnes of electronic waste from landfills nationally at events around the country.

Dunedin residents managed to divert 36 tonnes, and 966 tonnes was collected nationally.

Last year, more than 87,000 computer-related items were diverted from landfills during eDay.

National organiser and Computer Access New Zealand chairman Laurence Zwimpfer said computers contained many valuable resources which could be recovered and put to good use.

Dunedin communications co-ordinator Susan Smirk said it had been a bit quieter than last year's drive-through event, with 621 cars going through the waste collection site at Fryatt St.

Last year, 950 cars visited the site.

However, the amount of computer and related equipment, like cellphones and printers, that people unloaded was "amazing", she said.

"We've had people come in with three car loads; they've just gone round and round - you wonder where they store it all at home."

Once sorted, the material was being packed on to pallets and wrapped before being stacked into shipping containers.

The day had been made possible by about 100 volunteers who helped unload and sort the equipment, she said.

"There's been some great teamwork."

The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust was on hand to retrieve printer cartridges.

Cartridge World was contributing points to the trust for each cartridge, which would enable them to purchase office goods.

Similar eDays were also held in Queenstown, Wanaka and Alexandra, where seven tonnes, 12 tonnes and 16 tonnes of electronic waste was collected respectively.

 

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