From eTrash to eTreasure

27 Aug 2010

As a large user of resources, Broadcast Australia embraces the challenge to recycle and reuse as much of our corporate e-waste as possible. World Environment Day presented a perfect opportunity for our employees to take this a stage further—and see how much of their household e-waste could be diverted from landfill for the benefit of others.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that in 2009 Australians dumped 1.6 million items of e-waste into landfill. E-waste comprises all electrical goods such as computer, audio-visual, and telephone equipment. While much of this waste originates from broken or obsolete items, there is still plenty of scope to re-use or recycle these goods.

As part of World Environment Day, Broadcast Australia organised an e-waste collection activity for our New South Wales Chatswood office, Network Operations Centre (NOC), and Wetherill Park field services depot—working with 'creative re-use' co-operative, Reverse Garbage. Furthermore, our Perth field services depot organised a scrap metal collection at the Hammersley AM radio site through SIMS Metal, and our Canberra office and depot held a cleanup activity at the Gungahlin AM radio site.

Collective action

The e-waste collection activity in NSW began two weeks prior to World Environment Day, and collections continued for another week following the day's festivities. In total, staff across these three sites managed to accumulate a staggering 850kg of e-waste.

These efforts were celebrated on 4 June with a number of morning teas and barbecues held across the Chatswood, NOC, and Wetherill Park locations. Additionally, the Wetherill Park facility organised a tree and herb garden planting at a nearby pre-school.

The staff e-waste collection activities followed hot-on-the-heels of a highly successful corporate e-waste gathering exercise at our Gore Hill site earlier in the year—also run in partnership with Reverse Garbage. Items collected here included 57 monitors, 51 desktop computers, 22 laptops, 16 servers, seven printers and two network switches.

E-waste to aid

A 'not-for-profit' organisation, Reverse Garbage donates working items to overseas aid organisations, and local community and special interest groups. Non-working items are rebuilt where possible, and sold to the community through a retail shop, student market and Reverse Garbage's online presence.

Where items cannot be restored to working condition, they are broken down and the individual components recycled or re-used. Innovative adaptive recycling strategies even include using components for arts and crafts activities. In total, less than one per cent of the collected e-waste material ends up as landfill.

Events such as World Environment Day serve to focus attention on the waste we create, and the benefits that can be derived from this, through simple strategies that enable items to be reused or recycled. One person's trash truly is another person's treasure.

Picture caption:  Broadcast Australia's Wetherill Park Team with a local kindergarden on World Environment Day 2010

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