It’s taken a while, but it looks like Australia will be getting a proper national TV and PC recycling system within the next couple of years. Finally!
At the moment, only 10 per cent of PCs or TVs are actually recycled in this country, and even those generally have a cost involved with them. The introduction of a mandatory recycling scheme should see that number increase to over 80 per cent, which could save up to 2.5 million tonnes of e-waste sent to landfill over the next 20 years.
The scheme is most likely going to be industry driven, and will consequently mean that the TV manufacturers will pass on the costs to consumers at the point of sale. The good news is that the EPHC (Environment Protection and Heritage Council) report reckons that the cost would be between $5-$10 for each TV, which is such an insignificant sum when buying something worth hundreds or thousands of dollars that it makes you wonder why this wasn’t introduced years ago.
So far, Panasonic, Sony and Sharp have filled my inbox with press releases stating their public support for the scheme. Lets hope that all the other manufacturers jump on board as well, and this thing gets up sooner rather than later…