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Tips to help you responsibly clean-out your old gadgets

Posted by | January 08, 2015 | Hidden | No Comments

Now that the festive season is over, it’s the perfect time to start the New Year with a good clean out of your home.

With tablets, computers and HD TVs usually among the most popular gifts received over Christmas, TechCollect, a free national electronic waste (e-waste) recycling service, is asking Aussies to think above and beyond just clothes and old papers when it comes to cleaning out your home for the New Year – extending the clean-up to old technology, which may have been replaced over the festive period.

Australians are buying more than four million computers and three million* TVs every year, but less than one per cent of televisions and 10 per cent of household PCs and laptops are recycled Australia-wide. By 2027, the cumulative volume of televisions and computers at the end of their lifecycle is expected to reach 181,000 tonnes or 44 million units.

Computers and TVs also contain valuable resources, such as glass, plastic and metals, which can be reused in new products. If we don’t dispose of our unwanted technology responsibly, these resources are lost forever.

With many of us having received new gadgets, now is the perfect time to take responsibility for the products we consume both at purchase and when we have finished with them. Here are our top tips to help you responsibly clean out and dispose of your old and unwanted technology.

  1. Make a checklist: Visit techcollect.com.au to find out exactly what e-waste you can recycle. Write down a list of what you can bring in and drop off at your nearest TechCollect service. Old computers, tablets, printers, laptops and TVs? Recycle it all and your home will thank you.
  2. Be in the know: As well as visiting techcollect.com.au you can contact your local council and educate yourself about community e-waste initiatives or to find out where your nearest e-waste collection point is. Pop a date in the calendar and commit an afternoon to helping the environment.
  3. Pay it forward: If your computer or TV is still in good working condition, give it to a family member or friend.
  4. Safety first: Remember to always permanently erase personal data from any computer, tablet or laptop you plan to recycle. For more information on how to do this contact the manufacturer of your device or search online for data wiping services.
  5. Tied up in knots: Those random power cables from your old TV, computer, printer or accessory can also be recycled by TechCollect, even if they’re all knotted up in a drawer and you don’t know which cable belongs to which device – bring it with you to your nearest TechCollect site, and thanks to recycling something beautiful could be made out of it!
  6. Encourage your friends and family to get involved and take responsibility for their e-waste: Lead by example and help out those that may need it, collect your grandparents’ or parents’ e-waste and make sure it is recycled responsibly.

*Australian Bureau of Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2014.