E-Waste

E-waste refers to unwanted and discarded electrical and electronic products. This means anything powered by a battery or an electrical cord and plug. E-waste includes larger household items such as ‘white goods’ e.g. washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, freezers, ovens and microwaves. Home entertainment products such as televisions, computers, CD players, DVD players, tablets, mobile phones and other handheld electronic devices.

Electrical gardening equipment such as hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, electric chainsaws, whipper snippers, electric lawn mowers etc.
Smaller household items such as toasters, kettles, irons, lamps, battery operated or electronic toys, hairdryers, fans, heaters, printers etc.
If in doubt it is always best to remember if it has a cord, plug or battery, it is e-waste.

From 1 July 2019, e-waste cannot be disposed of in landfill. Fines will not be applicable to either households or businesses. The Victorian Government is simply urging Victorians to do the right thing and embrace the fact that responsible electronic-waste disposal and recycling makes more sense.

More information on the regulator changes and policies can be found here.

E-waste should not be placed in your red (or yellow) kerbside bin. We are encouraging residents to dispose of their e-waste by taking it to a Council resource recovery centre, or by using one of the other e-waste drop off / collection services as listed here by Sustainability Victoria.
Once collected , e-waste is sent to a sorting facility where it is sorted and then sent to recyclers for reprocessing. By utilising the drop off points at the resource recovery centres, or another similar service your e-waste can be recycled and will not end up in landfill.

Strathbogie Shire Council is pleased to currently offer free e-waste disposal at all of our resource recovery centres. The cost of this service is reviewed regularly as part of Council’s annual budget process.

E-waste that is collected and stored at Council’s resource recovery centres is periodically collected by our e-waste recycling contractor. It is then taken to the contractors EPA certified facility to be safely sorted into different recycling streams.

There are many reasons why you should recycle e-waste. Please remember recycling e-waste cannot be done using your yellow lidded kerbside service.
– It’s good for the environment
– It’s good to recover and reuse
– Keep it out of landfill

All e-waste products can contain hazardous materials. Ranging from heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium to ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCS) and flame retardants. Even in small amounts, these dangerous chemicals can cause environmental contamination.

When you multiply the millions of e-waste items being sent to landfill, the environmental impact becomes much more serious.
E-waste contains a range of valuable materials, including tin, nickel, zinc, aluminium, copper, silver, gold and plastic.
In 2016, 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste was generated worldwide. Of this enormous figure, only about 20 per cent, or 8.9 million metric tonnes was recycled. The rest ended up in landfill.

Hazardous and precious metals aside, putting this huge volume of ‘stuff’ in the ground is not sustainable. Keeping e-waste out of landfill is a much smarter idea.

Recycling your e-waste is important and necessary. But even better is to try and avoid creating e-waste in the first place.
Before you buy an electronic item, you can:

– Carefully select the right product for your needs
– Choose a brand that’s environmentally responsible
– Only upgrade your tech if there’s a real reason to do so
– Support businesses that are working to solve the e-waste problem.
If you have an item you no longer need, but which still works and is in good condition, consider trying to find a new home for it first, you could:
– Offer it to friends or family
– Try swapping or giving it away for free via an online recycling site
– Donate it to a charity or Not-For-Profit organisation (make sure they’re happy to accept it first)
– Sell it. There’s a large market for quality second-hand electronics. You’ll make money and be helping reduce the e-waste burden.
If you have an item that is broken, you can:
– Contact the manufacture to see if the item can be repaired.
– Check warranties and returns from the seller and manufacturer.
– Taking the item to a Repair café. The Seymour Repair Café is open on the 3rd Saturday of each month, 2 to 4pm. More Repair Café locations and times can be found on the website.

Strathbogie Shire Council’s resource recovery centres have been offering free e-waste disposal and recycling for a number of years and this service has been successfully taken up by many residents.

However, according to Sustainability Victoria research, most Victorians are unsure of what e-waste is, and how to dispose of it. Many either donate unwanted and even broken items to charity shops, or store it in garages and sheds until they decide what to do with it. Unfortunately, some e-waste gets dumped at clothing recycling bins, opportunity shops or even dumped on the sides of roads.

Sustainability Victoria is partnering with local councils to help raise awareness around e-waste and help stop it from ending up landfill. To assist local government with this change, funding has been provided through the Victorian Government’s E-waste Infrastructure Support Program to upgrade e-waste collection and storage facilities.