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Televisions, computers and smartphones keep us entertained and connected, but our appetite for electronics is creating some serious waste and recycling challenges. Australians love their electronic devices, with almost nine in ten Australians owning a smartphone and 76 per cent of us owning a laptop, according to a 2018 Deloitte survey. But old and broken electronic devices have become a big problem for the environment, with Australia becoming one of the leading e-waste generators in the w…

Switching to smart lights is important for the future of recycling, slashing the amount of energy used on lighting while improving our environmental footprint. Smart lights use light emitting diodes (LEDs) and have been widely welcomed in homes and workplaces for their technological features like remotely turning on the lights on, via a mobile phone or voice assistant, and adjusting brightness. While these tech shortcuts are fun and useful, smart lights really shine when it comes to energy…

Victoria’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is keeping a close watch as the state’s ban on dumping electronic waste into landfill recently came into effect. The e-waste ban means anything with a plug, battery or power cord that is no longer working or wanted must be taken to a council or business collection point rather than thrown into your household bin. The state’s environmental watchdog has been visiting e-waste collectors to make sure e-waste has been handled safely and secure…

When it’s time to upgrade your MacBook, notebook or other laptops, you can do your part for the environment by recycling it in a few easy steps. Whether your old battery has finally died, or you just need an upgrade, there comes a time when we have to dispose of our ageing laptops. In the past, many laptops have ended up in the general waste bin and taken to landfill, contributing to Australia’s growing electronic waste problem. E-waste is one of the fastest growing forms of waste in th…

Fluorescent lamps are found in our homes, workplaces and public spaces, yet most of these lights end up in landfill even though they can be recycled. Authorities estimate 95 per cent of mercury-containing lamps are sent to landfill in Australia these days despite free recycling programs that run across the country. One of the big reasons to recycle fluorescent lamps is that they contain highly toxic mercury. While there is only a small amount of mercury in each light, the huge volumes o…

Homeowners and businesses are increasingly choosing energy-efficient smart LED lights over regular bulbs, but how do you discard them once they’re done? Smart lights are light emitting diode (LED) bulbs typically controlled by a smartphone app, which can remotely switch them on and off, adjust the brightness and other handy actions. These lights have become a popular option in homes and workplaces, as part of the Internet of Things (IoT) wave to link everyday devices to the internet and ea…

As Victoria’s electronic waste ban takes effect next month, the State Government has committed $16.5 million to help local councils prepare for the move. A state-wide ban on discarding e-waste into landfill will take effect from July 1, requiring residents and businesses to discard old electronic devices at dedicated collection points. E-waste covers all electronic waste – anything with a plug, battery or cord that is at the end of its useful life, including old mobile phones, computers, w…

LED light bulbs can be recycled just like other lighting waste however, these energy-efficient bulbs have to be discarded correctly to reap the benefits. While LED, or light-emitting diode, bulbs are made of non-renewable materials like glass and aluminium, these resources can be recovered through recycling and then reused in new products. LED lighting can be disposed of in the rubbish bin, but it’s better for the environment to check with your council if LED lamps can be recycled and wher…

Printers are upgraded more often nowadays to keep up with new models, but what should you do with your old machine once you’re finished with it? Used printers, like most electronic and electrical devices, can be recycled today despite many old machines still ending up in land fill. With Victoria’s e-waste ban coming into effect from 1 July 2019, printers should not be discarded in general waste bins. Australia faces a serious e-waste challenge, and is one of the top five biggest produce…

To retain integrity and help prevent fraudulent activity, Ecocycle will issue digital signatures for VEU and ESS recycling certificates. The Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) program* (formerly called the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target, or VEET) is a scheme in which ‘accredited persons’ replace energy-inefficient products with more efficient ones in homes and non-residential premises. They are then able to create a number of Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates (VEECs) that reflect t…

When fluorescent tubes and other mercury-containing lights burn out, there are some simple steps to safely dispose of them. Fluoro tubes and compact fluorescent lamps (CPLs) contain small amounts of mercury and are commonly found in homes and workplaces. While there are only tiny quantities of mercury in each light, the millions of fluorescent tubes and CFLs tossed in the bin each year constitute the largest source of mercury bound for Australian landfill. So when bulbs stop working and…

Vast quantities of phones, appliances and other electronic waste (e-waste) end up in landfill every day, even though most of it can be recycled. E-waste can be anything that is no longer needed and plugs into a power point or runs on batteries, including old televisions, refrigerators, lighting and even hearing aids. Australia is one of the world’s biggest producers of e-waste, so every effort to recycle electronic waste at home and work helps. Here are five advantages of recycling e-wa…

Upgraded recycling programs, better designed devices and more buy-back schemes are needed to tackle the rising tide of e-waste globally, according to a new report. Several United Nations bodies, the World Economic Forum, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have come together to advocate for an overhaul of the current electronics landscape in the new report, A New Circular Vision for Electronics. The call to action comes as 50 million tonnes of electronics and…

Power tools make up a substantial portion of Australia’s electrical and electronic waste (e-waste). Traditionally they’ve ended up in landfill at the end of their working lives, but with states rolling out bans on the dumping of e-waste in landfill, power tool owners will need to find new ways to dispose of old tools. The only viable (and, in the long term, legal) method of disposing of power tools will be to recycle them. A typical power tool mostly contains aluminium, steel, copper and p…

Every year many millions of incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and LED lamps get dumped into landfills around Australia. That contributes to a number of major problems, all of which can be avoided by recycling old lighting. Here are five main benefits of recycling: 1. Keep harmful materials out of the environment Possibly the greatest lighting waste hazard is the mercury contained in fluoro tubes, CFLs and vapour lamps. When disposed of into lan…

E-waste is the fastest growing category of waste, fuelled by our insatiable appetite for the latest gadget and the sheer ubiquity of electrical and electronic equipment. E-waste is something that every business needs to deal with but, in too many cases, the e-waste policy of the corporate sector is simply to dump it in a hole in the ground. Fortunately, attitudes are changing, and it isn’t just the environment that benefits. E-waste recycling can also save businesses money. Here’s how: …

E-waste: It stands for electrical and electronic waste, and it’s usually defined as anything that plugs into a power point or runs on batteries and that has reached the end of its useful life. That doesn’t mean something is broken; it may just be technologically obsolete. Some people expand the definition of e-waste to include related items such as video cassettes and floppy disks – things that depend on electrical equipment to function. With such a broad definition, it’s clear that e-w…

Australia’s commercial and public buildings are home to about 30 million emergency exit lights. Most of these rely on nickel cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries, along with smaller numbers of nickel metal hydride and sealed lead acid batteries. An estimated five million Ni-Cd batteries, containing 90 tonnes of the toxic heavy metal cadmium, are dumped in landfill every year. To address this problem the Lighting Council of Australia, with the support of the Queensland government, has relaunched it…

Most people don’t know it, but it is both possible and desirable to recycle lighting waste in Australia. Much of our lighting – fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and some types of high intensity lamps – contains mercury. If these lights are not recycled, that mercury ends up polluting our environment. Aside from the toxic material in some lamps, all lighting contains glass and metals – highly recyclable materials that should be used to produce new items rather than bei…