eDay Recycling 2010
Questions & Answers
Other questions are welcome: please contact us at edayrecycling@mfe.govt.nz
For more information, check out the press release on the Beehive website.
Q: What is “e-waste” ?
“E-waste” is short for electronic wastes. In the broadest sense, this includes any end-of-life product that has used electricity: for example computers, printers, monitors, other computer peripherals, mobile phones, televisions, digital cameras, batteries, chargers, cables, light fittings, and household electric appliances.
During New Zealand’s eDay, a smaller subset of e-waste has been collected (computers, printers, computer peripherals, mobile phones and digital cameras).
Q: Why is e-waste a problem?
A: For two main reasons – it is a waste of valuable resources, and can contain materials that once disposed of can pose risk to the environment and human health.
The estimated 80,000 tonnes of e-waste thrown away in New Zealand every year contains large amounts of recoverable materials. For example, eDay in 2009 collected material containing an estimated 490 tonnes of steel, 70 tonnes of copper and 340 ounces of gold.
E-waste can contain significant amounts of toxic material such as lead, mercury, cadmium and brominated fire retardants. For instance, there is an estimated 20,000 tonnes of lead in the 10 million cathode ray tubes in New Zealand's old style computer monitors and TVs. Under disposal conditions lead and other toxic materials can leach out into the environment.
Every computer, mobile phone or monitor that is diverted from landfill helps to reduce pollution and the need for further mineral extraction.
Q: How does e-waste relate to the government’s Waste Strategy?
A: The New Zealand Waste Strategy provides the high-level direction for waste minimisation efforts by local government, businesses and communities. The emphasis is on reducing the harmful effects of waste and improving resource efficiency.
Q: Why is the Ministry for the Environment managing the recycling contracts for eDay 2010?
A: The Ministry has taken over the selection of contractors for eDay material recycling in order to ensure that all of the eDay e-waste is managed in a legal and environmentally sound way, and to enhance public confidence in e-waste recycling in New Zealand. The data that is collected during the day will also form part of the public evidence base available to help design future product stewardship initiatives.
Q: What is the process for selecting the eDay material recycling contractor(s)?
An Expression of Interest process has been run through the government’s public Government Electronic Tendering System (GETS). Eight companies submitted Expressions of Interest in November 2010. From these, five were selected to be invited to participate in a Request for Proposal (RFP) process. This invitation was issued on 7 December 2010, the deadline for their proposals is 10 January 2011. It is anticipated that recycling of the eDay materials will commence in February or March 2011.
The results of the RFP process will be published on GETS. To sign up for a log-in account is free, and ensures you receive updates as they arise, including follow-up information on the award of contracts. The GETS website is at www.gets.govt.nz and the GETS reference for this project is 31382.
Q: How will the eDay materials recycling project be funded?
The recycling company or companies selected will be funded if required from the Waste Minimisation Fund, through the Minister Initiated Application process. It is hoped that the market for higher value materials that can be derived from e-waste will help cover the costs of appropriately managing materials which have little or no current market value.
Q: What else is the government doing about e-waste recycling?
A: The Minister is supporting capacity-building and infrastructure development through Waste Minimisation Fund support for the RCN Group/Community Recycling Network e-waste collection network development project. This will establish 20 permanent user-pays collection depots for e-waste as well as recycling facilities in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
The Ministry for the Environment is in the process of publishing a guideline to best practise in e-waste recycling and will be part of developing Australia/New Zealand standards for e-waste. The Ministry also continues to work on international e-waste issues through the Basel Convention.
Q. Why can’t we rely on the market to fix this problem?
Currently the environmental, health and resource depletion costs of electronic products (the “externalities”) are not part of the price the consumer pays for new products or disposal. In addition there are few market incentives for manufacturers to design their products better so as to reduce harm and make recycling easier.
Q: Can’t better e-waste management be mandated?
A: In some countries this approach has been followed, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive in Europe and extended producer responsibility regulations in Japan.
At this time the New Zealand government is encouraging the development of industry-led, voluntary product stewardship schemes under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. There is not a current work programme for the development of mandatory product stewardship programmes through declaration of “priority products” under the Act. The Ministry for the Environment team will work with industry associations and companies that are willing to work toward an industry-led, voluntary product stewardship scheme, and/or are interested in exploring the option of applying for voluntary product stewardship accreditation from the Minister under the Waste Minimisation Act.
e-Day 2009
Q: What happened to the e-waste from eDay 2009?
A: The data provided to the Mini9stry by the 2020 Communications Trust indicates that some materials such as recovered plastics and metals were recycled in New Zealand, while others were sent to facilities in Australia and South Korea with appropriate consent for further processing.
The Ministry of Economic Development has confirmed that to its knowledge, none of the eDay 2009 e-waste was shipped off-shore without the appropriate Basel Consent. The court case that led to a conviction against the eDay recycler was based on an attempt to export without an appropriate Basel consent, and a consent was subsequently obtained. The Ministry for the Environment is satisfied, based on information received to date, that the electronic equipment collected at the eDay 2009 has been managed in an environmentally sound manner.
The estimated tonnages from the 2020 Communications Trust were as follows:
| Monitors and CRTs – reused | 54 tonnes |
| Monitors and CRTs – recycled | 300 tonnes |
| Printed circuit boards, hard disk drives, floppy disk drives, keyboards – recycled | 92 tonnes |
| Scrap metal - recycled | 112 tonnes |
| Printers - recycled | 118 tonnes |
| Plastics – recycled | 44 tonnes |
| CRT glass – shipped to Korea for recycling | 110 tonnes |
| CRT glass – stored for recycling in 2010 | 110 tonnes |
| Total | 940 tonnes |
In previous years eDay weights were estimates, based on numbers of items and average weights. Thus discrepancies can arise when actual weights are recorded. For eDay 2010 the material will be weighed before recycling contractors are engaged so that eDay collection and final destination data can be accurately compared.
Q: What about the CRT glass left over from eDay 2009?
A: There was an estimated 110 tonnes of CRT glass left over from eDay 2009 which was at risk of being sent to landfill, so it was put in secure storage to be recycled with the eDay 2010 materials. The weight estimate was based on a count of CRT tubes multiplied by an average weight. Upon being weighed this was found to be substantially less than the estimate, at 67.795 tonnes.
Funding
Q: How much public money is being spent to support eDay 2010?
A: The 2020 Communications Trust has been allocated up to $770,000 from the Waste Minimisation Fund to conduct eDay 2010 through more than 50 collection centres nationwide. There was also substantial in-kind support from councils, corporate entities and community groups.
Q: How much will eDay 2010 recycling contracts cost?
A: We will not know this until the public competitive procurement process is completed in early 2011. Once the total contract values are known, they will be made public. Some of the costs should be able to be offset from sale of materials.
Q: How much is it costing to store the eDay 2009 CRT glass?
The Ministry for the Environment is covering storage fees of $2000 per month.
