Residents and Council double the rate of e-waste recovery
Date Posted: 7 September 2012
Two new Council initiatives have doubled the amount of e-waste recovered in Lake Macquarie in the past year.
Lake Macquarie residents have recycled 168 tonnes of e-waste in the year to June 2012, which is close to double the 85 tonnes collected in the year to June 2011.
Sustainability Manager Alice Howe said she is delighted that Lake residents are disposing of their e-waste responsibly and hoped the recycling rate among residents continued to improve.
“This year we introduced a service to allow people to leave their used electronic items at our Awaba Waste Management Facility free of charge, every day except Christmas Day,” Dr Howe said.
“Council has also started an e-waste recovery process, where staff separate electronic items from general waste that is dropped off at Awaba. Together these two new initiatives have doubled our recovery of e-waste.
“This is important because e-waste is a growing problem. As technology improves, electronic devices are replaced more frequently. We encourage Lake residents and our staff to keep up the good work.”
All e-waste including mobiles phones and handheld devices, microwave ovens, TVs, VCRs and DVD players, computer equipment, portable kitchen appliances and batteries are accepted for recycling.
Council’s next e-waste drop-off event will be Saturday 3 November at Solo Waste, 25-27 Oakdale Road, Gateshead.
Residents wanting to know about local recycling and disposal options for other products can look up the Lake Macquarie Recycling Directory.