Latest News Cleaning up New Zealand's E-Waste - Free Computer Recycling Day September 12 eDay is a community initiative designed to raise awareness of the hazardous nature of e-waste, and to give households the opportunity to dispose of unused computers and mobile phones in an environmentally sustainable way. The three Wairarapa councils are working together to make this eDay a success. It’s being held on September 12, 9-3pm with drop-off in Masterton at Elders Woolstore, 133 Ngaumatawa Road, Masterton.     Drop off for Carterton and South Wairarapa residents is at their transfer stations with the e-waste then being trucked to Masterton before 3pm. Masterton Councillor Chris Peterson says e-waste is the fastest growing waste problem globally and New Zealand is no exception; over 87,000 computer related items were diverted from local landfills at last year's eDay. “This included 2,310 items from Wairarapa, amounting to 25 tonnes being dropped off at the Elders Woolstore last year. Computer Access New Zealand (CANZ) co-ordinates the national day, with the aim of diverting over 1,000 tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) from landfills in up to 40 regions - an increase from the 31 regions that participated in 2008. Now in its third year, the annual eDay event is the only nationwide community e-waste recycling event for disposing of computer items and mobile phones in an environmentally sustainable way, at no cost to the public.   FREE recycling of electronic waste - Saturday 12 September  What can I drop off? Computers and their related attachments, like printers and modems. You can also drop off mobile phones and fax machines. Getting involved is easy. Simply check the following lists for what you can and can't dispose of, and what you need to do to your old equipment before eDay. Please note this is a cars-only event, no trucks or trailers please. What can be disposed of ·  computer hardware ·  monitors ·  networking equipment (e.g. modems, routers, hubs) ·  scanners ·  keyboards, mice, speakers ·  laptops ·  printers ·  game consoles ·  toner and ink jet cartridges ·  mobile phones ·  fax machines ·  Digital cameras What can't be disposed of We can't accept items that aren't related to computers or mobile phones. These include: ·  televisions ·  radios ·  stereos ·  DVD players, video recorders ·  other home appliances ·  furniture What to do before eDay ·  Wipe all data from your computer's hard drive and remove any removable media such as floppy disks or PC cards. ·  Ensure that your mobile is disconnected by your service provider and that contacts and other stored information are erased from the phone’s memory. Also remove your phone’s SIM card if it has one. What happens to my e-waste All equipment will be sorted at the drop-off site on eDay before being transported to consolidation centres in New Zealand and then to South Korea for recycling. Computer e-waste Once it arrives at the recycling plant in South Korea, all non-working monitors are manually disassembled and the following materials recovered for re-use: • copper wire and polymer coating • circuit boards and valuable metals such as copper, lead and zinc • unleaded glass • plastics • steel and other metals. Circuit boards contain lead and precious metals and they are sent to LG Niggojeryun for environmentally acceptable processing. Glass from CRT tubes contains lead. The glass will be sent for processing by Lucky Material or Samjingup. Plastics from CRT housings will be recycled by CNtech Korea (www.cntkor.com) or SMC into new products. Reduce, reuse, recycle because it’s free!! Proudly supported by your councils and managed by Wairarapa REAP 25 August 2009