Shire of Collie residents can now have their electronic waste, including televisions, computers, printers and mobile phones, disposed of free of charge at the Collie Waste Facility.
The facility has dedicated a skip bin to store electronic waste, or e-waste, until it can be transported to Perth, along with e-waste collected in Bunbury and other surrounding shires involved in the Wellington Regional Group of Councils partnership.
Shire president Sarah Stanley said it was important to divert as much waste away from landfill as possible, with e-waste posing significant environmental threats.
“The more waste we can divert away from landfill the better, through reducing consumption, reusing resources and recycling properly,” she said.
“It is particularly important that e-waste is diverted from landfill due to the long list of harmful and toxic chemicals it contains.”
According to the Waste Authority WA, e-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams and includes many hazardous materials that are used in all manner of computing, electronic devices and electrical appliances.
Research conducted by Total Green Recycling found 95 per cent of the e-waste produced by the thousands of electronic devices discarded across the country each day could be recycled.
Shire of Collie chief executive officer David Blurton said it was important that all residents understood what waste could be recycled and where it could be recycled.
“Remember not to place your e-waste in kerbside recycling bins,” he said.
“It is currently not accepted by the processing contractors and will likely end up in landfill.”
Data collected by the Shire of Collie showed that from July 2017 to May 2018, more than 1884 tonnes of waste was sent to landfill through kerbside bin collection within the shire.
During the same period, more than 1905 tonnes of waste was recycled with just over 701 tonnes collected from recycling bins and almost 1204 tonnes from organics bins.
A recent waste audit observed by the Wellington Regional Group of Councils found that recycling contamination was an issue in Collie, with plastic bags, food and drink, clothing and even nappies regularly thrown in recycling bins.
Items accepted by the shire in recycling bins include hard plastics provided they are rinsed, paper, aluminium cans, steel cans and tins, cardboard and glass bottles and jars.
Ratepayers can also get a tip pass which allows for 16 free entries to the tip to dispose of household waste.
