Standard will divert e-waste from landfill and increase recovery for use in new products
Electronic and electrical waste (e-waste), including televisions and computers, is growing three times faster than any other type of waste in Australia. Householders and small business can drop-off televisions and computers for free at designated access points under the Government’s National Waste Policy National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme and be confident that hazardous materials will not enter the environment due to a new e-waste standard.
To divert e-waste from landfill by providing a rigorous process for its collection, storage, and recycling Standards Australia recently published the joint Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 5377:2013 Collection, storage, transport and treatment of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment. The objective of this Standard is to:
- provide guidance and specify requirements for the safe and environmentally sound collection, storage, transport and treatment of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment in order to maximize re-use and material recovery;
- reduce or eliminate the amount of waste from this equipment going to final disposal operations such as landfill;
- safeguard worker health; and
- minimize harm to the environment.
The standard also provides environmentally-effective guid
CFA representative Michael Hassett is on the Technical Committee EV-019 E-waste which developed the standard.
To find out more about becoming a CFA representative on the CFA Standards Project contact the Standards Coordinator onstandards@consumeraction.