Executive Summary

A 2006 report on electronic waste in New Zealand, prepared by the Computer Access New Zealand (CANZ) Trust drew attention to the growing number of obsolete computers and computer-related equipment.¹ The report estimated that there were around sixteen million computer and television devices in New Zealand with nearly a million being added each year. In the absence of a national collection and recycling scheme for the safe disposal of this equipment, it is assumed that this electronic waste is ending up in landfills or being stored at homes and businesses, creating a potential environmental hazard.

To draw attention to this issue and alert the general public to the potential hazards of landfilling electronic waste, CANZ with the support of Dell and other partners, organised New Zealand’s first eDay in September 2006. This provided an opportunity for households to drop-off old computers free of charge to a centralised collection point so that they could be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. This first eDay was held in Wellington and just over 50 tonnes of e-waste were collected. As a result of the high publicity for the day, other councils asked to be included in a future eDay.

In September 2007, CANZ organised the first national eDay, with 12 locations participating. As in 2006, the day was extremely successful with some 400 tonnes of e-waste being collected. All the equipment collected was sent for recycling. The recycling operators in Auckland, Melbourne and Singapore all have processes that ensure no more than 5% of the e-waste ends up in landfills.

Key findings from the 2007 eDay

On 29 and 30 September 2007, 6,974 cars dropped off over 26,200 pieces of computer equipment at 12 venues across New Zealand.
Of the total tonnage collected nationally, Wellington collected 27%, the largest amount.
Of the total tonnage of equipment collected, monitors made up the largest contribution by weight at 50%.
The top four manufacturers for the branded equipment surveyed were: HP, Compaq, Philips and Dell.
Of the equipment surveyed in Wellington, 37% were ‘other’ brands and 9% were ‘unbranded’, ie, no easily identifiable manufacturer branding.
Of the drivers surveyed, 82% said the equipment they were dropping off had been used by the household, 16% said business use.
Of the drivers surveyed, 37% said they think computer manufacturers should pay for the safe recycling and disposal of computer equipment and 25% said the customer/user.
Of the drivers surveyed, 42% said that using a recycling centre was the easiest way to recycle their computer waste and 39% said a collection event.

1 John MacGibbon and Laurence Zwimpfer, “e-Waste in New Zealand: Taking Responsibility for end-of-life computers and TVs”, July 2006.

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