Question Time

ELECTRONIC WASTE

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:20): I seek leave to make an explanation before asking the Minister for Environment and Conservation a question about electronic waste.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: For the benefit of members, electronic waste is defined as all electrical and electronic products nearing the end of their useful life. I am advised that approximately 13,500 tonnes, or approximately 9 kilos per person, of electronic waste items are disposed of each year in South Australia. These products contain many non-renewable resources, such as metals, and, indeed, some noxious chemicals, such as lead and mercury, and so on. As I understand it, currently they are disposed of mostly into landfill. Indeed, if constituents believe that they are disposing of things correctly via hard waste collection, apart from three councils those objects are going directly into landfill. I note that the minister said on radio last week that a lot of our landfills do not comply with current standards in terms of leaching into the underground. My questions are:

1. What strategies does the government have in place specifically to address the issue of electronic waste?

2. Is she aware that on the Zero Waste website some of the contacts for computer recycling include people who are known to be shipping it illegally overseas and disposing of it in developing countries in ways we would not tolerate in Australia?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (14:21): The issue of electronic waste is vexed. One of the things we have been doing at a national ministerial level has involved looking at corporate stewardship in respect of electronic waste, such as computers, phones and microwave ovens. We are trying to work with companies to ensure they incorporate into their retail prices responsibility for the safe waste disposal of those particular items. Work is being done at a national level. There are considerable issues around the fact that a lot of these products are imported from overseas, and many computer companies set up and sell a range of different brands rather than a single line of product. It is a vexed issue. We are aware that it does pose some quite special waste challenges.

We know that electronic waste involves computers, TVs and a wide range of electrical appliances, including mobile phones. Disposal of this material into the environment is a national and international concern. New requirements in Europe are driving manufacturers to use less hazardous materials to manufacture appliances—which is a step in the right direction at least. The waste electronics and electrical equipment directive was introduced in 2003 and became operational in 2005. This directive, in part, states that the objective of improving the management of this particular waste cannot be achieved effectively by members of the states acting individually. It is clear that this is a difficult issue to deal with world wide, although some progress is being made. At present these waste products are collected at a local level through hard rubbish collections, and we will continue to work, together with my national counterparts, to find a path forward for this difficult issue.