NZ’s lack of e-waste policy needs urgent attention – Editorial

Firefighters pump water into the rear of a Waste Management rubbish truck, an increasingly common sight. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Editorial

THREE KEY FACTS

• About 80 million kilograms of e-waste is produced annually, with less than 1% recycled.
• The Government is working on an e-waste product stewardship scheme, says Environment Minister Penny Simmonds.
• Rubbish truck fires are now costing Auckland ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Our increasingly tech-dependent lives are quite literally turning into hot garbage.

While the social impacts of our rapid advancement in personal technology are often discussed, we must now confront another growing issue.

What do we do with all the electronic waste?

Every battery in a laptop, smartphone, electric vehicle is a potential hazard once they’ve passed its shelf-life.

As Newstalk ZB reported yesterday, rubbish truck fires often caused by damaged batteries are now costing Auckland ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars a year.

The problem, experts say, is only getting worse. The number of rubbish truck fires last year was almost double that recorded in 2023.

This year started with a spate of rubbish truck fires in Auckland.

About 71% of Auckland’s kerbside bins in the most recent audit contained e-waste.

Auckland Council said it recorded about 6000 hazardous waste items being removed each year from the sorting line at its material recovery facility, including 2000 12V batteries and 3000 laptops.

Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton and Tauranga councils are seeing a similar trend on the rise.

These consumer goods simply aren’t built to last. As most readers will be aware, you’ll be lucky to get more than five years of use from a laptop or smartphone.

This is of course part of the business plan of the companies which manufacture these electronic products, but it also means about 80 million kilograms of e-waste is produced in New Zealand annually, according to the United Nation’s Global E-waste Monitor Report.

Shockingly, less than 1% is sent for recycling.

There are serious health and safety concerns for those who have to work in these environments too, with batteries emitting toxic smoke when on fire.

Chief executive Nic Quilty said WasteMinz has been asking multiple government departments and ministers to look at the issue.

“It is urgent. Sooner or later someone’s life will be lost,” he said.

We can’t wait for a tragedy to take action.

There are currently no obligations for battery manufacturers, those importing the products or businesses selling them to deal with the waste.

New Zealand is embarrassingly the only country in the OECD without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has said the Government’s working on an e-waste product stewardship scheme.

This is the first step.

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