Coast residents can now drop off unlimited quantities of household e-waste at Council’s Waste Management Facilities at Jilliby (Buttonderry), Woy Woy and Kincumber for free.
The change follows a new contract arrangement to help maximise resource recovery and reduce the amount of electronics ending up in landfill. Council Unit Manger, Waste Services and Business Development, Andrew Pearce, said e-waste was recognised as the fastest growing waste stream with over 700,000 tonnes generated nationally.
“Here on the Central Coast, e-waste is one of the most common items placed in household bins and bulk kerbside collections, ” Pearce said. “When e-waste is collected and compacted in a mixed waste collection truck, it becomes a missed opportunity to retrieve and reuse the precious metals and other resources, while also unnecessarily consuming landfill space.
“We accept all the traditional items such as televisions, computers and printers, but thanks to this new arrangement, we can now also accept any electrical product with a cord that does not contain liquid.
“Last year we recycled more than 135 tonnes of e-waste and with the number of new items that can now be dropped off, we are hoping we can continue this upward trajectory. ”
E-waste collected at Councils facilities is temporarily stored and then bulk transferred to an e-waste processing facility in Sydney, where it is shredded and sorted using advanced technology that creates high quality raw materials for reuse.
Source: Media release, Nov 18 Central Coast Council