Executive Summary
Ownership of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE)
The item of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) most commonly owned by a household was a television, followed by a mobile phone, computer monitor, computer (excluding monitor) and a laptop computer. Based on the calculated household averages, there are 3.4 million televisions held in New Zealand households, 3.3 million mobile phones, 1.9 million computer monitors, 1.9 million computers (excluding monitors), and 0.6 million laptop computers.
Very few households claimed to rent EEE. No respondent rented a television, 3 percent rented at least one mobile phone, 1 percent a computer (excluding monitor), 1 percent at least one computer monitor, and 1 percent a laptop computer.
Of households that rented or owned at least two of any of the electronic categories surveyed, 47 percent claimed that at least one mobile phone was no longer in use, 46 percent that at least one computer monitor was no longer in use, and 42 percent that at least one computer (excluding monitor) was no longer in use. Equivalent figures for laptop computers and televisions were 19 percent and 18 percent respectively. Extrapolating the proportion of items no longer in use for each category showed that 25 percent of mobile phones are no longer in use, 14 percent of computers (excluding monitors), 14 percent of computer monitors, 6 percent of televisions and 4 percent of laptop computers. These percentages are based on the assumption that households with only one of any item are currently using that item.
Respondents who claimed to have items that were no longer in use were asked their reasons for storing the item. Over the four categories surveyed, the most common reason for keeping the item was that it was still working and was kept as a backup, although the level of nominating this response varied between categories.
Replacement and disposal of EEE
Respondents were asked the general frequency with which they replaced particular categories of electronic items. A mobile phone was the item likely to be replaced with greatest frequency (30 percent claimed they replaced their mobile phone in less than two years). Equivalent figures for laptop computers, computers and televisions were 15 percent, 8 percent and 2 percent respectively. A laptop computer and computer were the items most likely to never have been replaced (37 percent) and (29 percent) respectively. This compares with 18 percent for mobile phones and 14 percent for televisions across the same indicator.
Those who had replaced their television, laptop, computer or mobile phone at some stage were asked their method of disposal. The methods of disposal varied across the categories tested, with the top two disposal methods as follows:
- for televisions: "gave it to a friend or family member" and "dumped it"
- for laptop computers: "continue to use the old item", and then "gave it to a friend or family member" and "council collection" were second equal
- for computers: "gave it to a friend or family member" and "stored it"
- for mobile phones: "gave it to a friend or family member" and "stored it".
Promotion of safe disposal of EEE
A number of potential barriers to recycling EEE were tested in the survey. Thirty-nine percent claimed the biggest barrier to recycling was the absence of collection schemes where they lived, 33 percent that they were unaware how to recycle these items, 9 percent that they could not be bothered to recycle, and 5 percent that it was too expensive.
Four recycling promotion approaches were tested in the research: 29 percent believed collection schemes where they lived would be the best approach to promote recycling of electronic items, 27 percent opted for increased promotion to encourage recycling, and 24 percent for provision of more information on how to recycle. Financial incentives were less popular, with only 17 percent believing that financial incentives and/or reduced costs to recycle would be most likely to promote the recycling of electronic items.
