eWaste Action

Group powers up for e-waste day

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT: Grey Lynn 2030 members Kim Maree and Lynn Green are organising an e-waste action day that will see old computer equipment collected for recycling rather than being dumped in landfills.
Computer equipment can be dropped off at the Woolworths carpark on Richmond Rd between 9am and 3pm and volunteers will remove the items from people’s cars.

Old computer equipment will be carted off by the truckload this weekend if Lynn Green and Kim Maree get their way.

The pair are part of the Grey Lynn 2030 group, which is organising an e-waste action day on Saturday.

People can take their old computers to the Woolworths Grey Lynn carpark where they will be collected for free, taken to a computer recycling centre and disassembled, with the parts either reused or recycled.

Ms Green, of Westmere, says the group has organised the e-waste day to give people an alternative to putting out their old computers in the upcoming inorganic collection.

“We want to keep the e-waste off the street to stop it getting damaged and the hazardous chemicals going into the stormwater,” she says.

Ms Maree says the group came up with the idea for the event after one of its members saw a documentary that showed how e-waste from western countries ended up in the Third World.

The Freemans Bay resident says it hasn’t been an easy project to organise.

“It’s been a big learning curve for us.”

The group estimates between one and 10 percent of households in Grey Lynn and surrounding areas will want to get rid of their e-waste on the day, which could create several tonnes of equipment to haul away.

Computerrecycling.co.nz owner Graeme Torckler, who will be disposing of the collected computers, says the Grey Lynn 2030 group is doing a great thing for the environment.

“I wish there were more groups doing it. It’s fantastic how much you can keep out of the landfill.”

He says it’s better to sell computer parts on to firms that use them straight away, rather than recycling them.

“By reducing the footprint of what has to be returned to its base form, the better for everyone.”

Grey Lynn 2030 is involved in a number of other projects to help achieve its goal to develop a sustainable local community by 2030.

They include supporting the Grey Lynn farmers market, a gardening group, reducing plastic bags used in the area and food waste recycling.