Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP and Federal Member for Bass, Geoff Lyons MP officially made the Government’s Television and Computer Recycling Scheme available in every state and territory by bringing schemes to Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
“With services now operating in Launceston, Devonport and Hobart, and the recent rollout of scheme services in the Northern Territory, there are now free recycling drop-off points in every state and territory, and in every capital city,” Ms Rishworth said.
“Hazardous materials including lead, mercury and zinc will be prevented from entering the local environment and valuable non-renewable resources, including gold and other precious metals, will be saved for reuse,” Mr Lyons said.
Ms. Rishworth commented that Australia’s first recycling sites in Canberra began collecting waste in May last year. Since then the ACT has collected and recycled over 3,000 tonnes of waste televisions and computers.
“There are now over 380 ongoing recycling services available across Australia—including 15 in Tasmania. Over 20,000 tonnes of unwanted televisions and computers have already been recycled since the scheme started operation in May last year. That’s equivalent to the weight of 50 full Boeing 747s,” Ms. Rishworth commented.