A whooping 7.1 tonnes of electronic waste was collected from South Wairarapa residents following two free e-waste drop-off days that were held at the three recycling stations across the district in October.
This means hundreds – even thousands – of items were saved from potentially ending up in the landfill.
To get an idea of the volume, 7.1 tonnes is roughly equivalent to any one of the examples below (not all combined):
- 35,500 smartphones
- 2,840 laptops
- 710 desktops
- 710 TVs
- 887 printers
- 592 microwaves
New Zealand generates around 98,000 tonnes of e-waste each year, but only 2% is recycled. By disposing of e-waste responsibly it not only reduces harmful materials entering our environment but also supports the recovery of valuable resources like metals that can be reused and recycled.
The e-waste collected in the district has been sent to a company in Wellington that manually dismantles the items and recycles the different components.
Thank you to all the residents who dropped off their e-waste items. The council plans to hold more free e-waste drop-off days in future.
Find recycling station locations and more info on rubbish and recycling here.