Horowhenua to stimulate growth in proper e-waste disposal with subsidy

E-waste can be recycled via the Foxton transfer station. Photo / Bevan Conley

Horowhenua District Council is planning to stimulate the proper recycling of e-waste, electronic stuff and especially monitors and TVs in the near future.

This means a significant decrease in fees for such items at the Foxton transfer station.

Disposal via the council's only transfer station (other waste transfer stations in the district are not council-owned) in Foxton will offer much lower charges for disposal of e-waste thanks to an annual $5000 subsidy from council.

Currently council charges $40 for old bulky TVs and $25 for flat screens. With the subsidy this will be halved. Horowhenua's e-waste is collected by a company from South Waikato, who picks up twice a year and this past January they collected 40 old TVs and 28 LCD TVs.

The subsidy is likely to increase that number though, according to experience elsewhere. When Palmerston North began subsidising e-waste the amount handed in doubled but has since stayed consistent.

Disposal of increased e-waste will cost the council $2544 every three months on top of the subsidy for consumers.

An annual subsidy of $5000 is being proposed to stimulate residents to take their redundant electronics to the transfer station.

The total number of TVs to be disposed is expected to be around 120 and 84 (LCD) every three months, which will bring in $4080 from the consumers and disposal costs for council will be $4716 every quarter. The difference of $636 will be made up by council each quarter.

Cellphones, cameras, GPS computer mice, batteries weighing up to 2kg, compact fluorescent lightbulbs as well as complete computer desktops and servers will be able to be handed into the transfer station for free.

With the subsidy disposing of a TV would cost the consumer $20. Laptops and tablets $5, printers and scanners $15, DVD/CD players $5, small household appliances such as heaters, kettles, toasters $3, large appliances like washing machines $20.

Dumping of electronic waste is a big issue in the district, in particular in the case of large old television sets and computer monitors, which are found regularly in reserves, by the roadside or on the beaches.

The subsidy is an attempt to end fly-tipping, which is also a big issue. Council, however, does not have any figures available on what fly-tipping consists of, so can not say by how much the cost of cleaning that up would be reduced if e-waste was heavily subsidised.

Councillor Todd Isaacs, a former waste management business owner, said he believed the proposed subsidy and resulting charges were fair.

"It is designed to encourage people to recycle."

While the proposal is based on an expected 120 TVs being handed in, Isaacs is convinced there are many more dumped each year.

Deputy mayor Jo Mason asked whether there is more that can be done to expand the subsidy.

"It is not just about the clean-up cost of fly-tipping. There is also an environmental cost."

CEO David Clapperton said fly-tipping clean-up costs are not separated out into different categories, but promised to get back to councillors in a month with more figures.