CLEAN Up Australia Day founder Ian Kiernan has stepped up calls for national laws to crack down on e-waste producers, as more than 1 million Australians rolled up their sleeves for the annual litter bust.
Mr Kiernan said it was time the producers of electronic products such as computers and mobile phones were made accountable for the millions of tonnes of e-waste created by obsolete consumer goods.
He wants Australia to follow other countries, such as some in Europe, and introduce national laws that would force manufacturers to take products back once their lifespan expires.
“It’s called extended producer responsibility and when you buy that product the producer of the product has got to have a cradle to grave responsibility for its collection, dismantling and recycling at the end of its life,” Mr Kiernan said.
“This needs to happen right across the board.”
Mr Kiernan said e-waste was being dumped in landfill at three times the rate of other rubbish and was an enormous challenge, particularly with cheap, imported Asian goods that had a short lifespan, and mobile phones that lasted between 18 and 20 months.
Three-quarters of the three million computers bought in Australia every year end up as rubbish, with e-waste responsible for 70 per cent of the toxic chemicals found in landfill, including cadmium and mercury.
Almost 600,000 volunteers took part in the annual clean-up at 7073 sites around the country. (more…)
