Mountains of old televisions and computers will finally be diverted from the local tip if the federal government agrees to a new electronic waste recycling scheme to be unveiled next month.
After 10 years of discussions, the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) is due to announce its decision on the best option for keeping about 17million computers and TVs out of landfill every year. Industry and consumer groups generally support a product-stewardship approach that obliges manufacturers to take greater responsibility for the collection and disposal of cast-off household equipment. Members of the Australian Information Industry Association have been voluntarily operating a takeback scheme in Victoria for several years, while the local TV industry and Consumer Electronics Suppliers Association formed Product Stewardship Australia as a non-profit organisation to develop a national scheme.
Earlier this year, the EPHC released a choice-modelling study which found shoppers would be willing to pay an extra $18-$27 on a new computer or TV to lift Australia's e-waste recycling efforts from just 9 per cent today to about 50 per cent. Cost-benefit analysis of nine possible options found that net benefits ranging from $517billion to $742bn in present-day values would be achieved, compared with doing nothing. The EPHC has also been considering submissions to a Regulatory Impact Statement on the proposed changes, ahead of its meeting on November 5.
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