(Copyright: www.arnnet.com.au)
ARN reports on a new multimillion dollar investment by the government of Victoria as it seeks to make its proposed e-waste ban “more effective.”
According to the article, the Victorian government will be pouring $16.5 million (€14.05 million) into measures that will help boost its proposed e-waste landfill ban, and is seeking both “industry and community input”.
Part of the investment will go toward “an education and awareness campaign to educate Victorians about how and why to recycle their e-waste, and new e-waste collection points that will be installed across the state.”
Victoria’s Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change is Lily D’Ambrosio. She has launched a public consultation regarding how the ban will be implemented, “expected to come into effect in July next year”.
“Our plan to better manage e-waste will encourage safe management of hazardous materials and allow greater recovery of valuable materials, ultimately leading to a more stable industry and jobs for Victoria,” D’Ambrosio said.
“The consultation process is important because we will need action from the community as well as recyclers and landfill managers to divert such a significant amount of waste from our landfills.”
The state’s ban is being put forward as a reaction to an alarming rise in e-waste, which “was growing three times faster than general waste”, with a proposed 256, 000 tonnes a year set to go into Victoria’s waste system by 2035. Furthermore, a worrying survey by TechCollect revealed that 45 per cent of Australians do not currently recycle, despite over half of survey respondents having more than three unused devices in their homes, and 36.7 percent having “more than five unused electric cords or cables.”
This “development of Waste Management Policies” is cited as “a joint project” between the Environment Protection Authority and DELWP. According to ARN, “Victoria’s waste and resource recovery groups will join with these other agencies to discuss the ban and supporting measures with stakeholders.”