E-waste firm eyes Hastings

National e-waste recycler RCN helped set up a collection centre in Napier recently and now hopes to work on establishing a similar site in Hastings as part of a long-term solution to deal with the increasing number of discarded television and computer components.

RCN's e-cycle programme successfully operates 24 sites, including the Napier one, throughout New Zealand with more potentially to be set up later this year.

The company's project manager, Jon Thornhill, said the Napier site had been established with Energy Options which runs the centre on Austin St in Onekawa.

The partnership was typical of the other e-cycle sites around the country where the local recycler deals with the public "face to face" as they were "well known in the community they work in".

"They charge the public a fee, and keep a handling fee for themselves. The recycler pays half the freight costs, we pay the other half to move the product to our Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch recycling plants," Mr Thornhill said.

The main stream of e-waste included televisions, computer monitors, photocopiers and printer toner which were dismantled down to "component form" and sent overseas to be recycled.

"We work as a dismantler and processor, unfortunately there's not many opportunities on-shore to convert the product back into raw material," Mr Thornhill said.

"At the moment it's too easy to take the whole product to the landfill but if there is legislation passed preventing that, I think your feasibility and business case becomes a lot more positive towards an on-shore option."

Mr Thornhill said he was aware of the problem in Hastings where E-Waste Recycling Hawke's Bay closed its doors in November, leaving a large number of monitor screens on a property in Tollemache Rd.

He said while RCN was involved in the site for about a year, it was not responsible for the e-waste still waiting to be removed.

Hastings District Council said the site was privately owned and the matter was being addressed through "legal channels between the landlord and former tenant".

The council had set up a number of meetings to determine a course of action for the abandoned material. It had also released $20,000 to help establish a local, long-term solution to e-waste disposal.

"What I think you will see soon is a lot more marketing around the topic of recycling and opportunities to fund programmes will open up," Mr Thornhill said.