The Total Environment Centre and Environment Victoria have today released a report showing that Australia’s e-waste problem is worse than ever. But, it also shows that over 5,100 new jobs could be created if Australia achived a 70% recycling rate for all e-waste.
Executive Summary
The Problem
- There will be 234 million items of e‐waste in or on their way to landfill by the end of 2009.
- Without the introduction of an e‐waste recycling program the amount of e‐waste in Australian landfills will treble by 2020 and be close to 700 million items.
- The 4.5 million assembled PCs and laptops sold in 2007/08 amount to 6.3 million tonnes of embodied greenhouse gas emissions.
- 484,000 tonnes of potentially avoided greenhouse gas emissions were lost in 2007/08 when 88,000 tonnes of televisions and computers were dumped in landfill.
The Solution
- A national recycling scheme for televisions and computers, administered by the federal government, should begin on 1 July 2010.
- This scheme should be expanded to include all other e‐waste in subsequent years.
- A national recycling scheme for all e‐waste would create 5,100 new jobs by 2015. This includes 1,440 direct jobs in the recycling of e‐waste, and another 3,660 indirect jobs.
