HALIFAX – The decorations are coming off the tree and the great post-Christmas clean-up is well underway.
Mountains of crumpled wrapping paper and empty boxes toddlers no longer want to play with are just waiting to be tossed out.
In Halifax, there’s a 25 per cent increase in garbage pickups the first week of each year.
But amongst that yuletide detritus are thousands of tonnes of e-waste – old TVs, computers and gadgets that have lost their lustre.
“Right now (in Canada) we have about 140,000 tonnes of e-waste per year going straight to landfill,” says Neil Bailey of Clean Nova Scotia.
Bailey urges people to give their old technology away, but that’s not always a welcome move.
Steven Nelson wanted to drop off his old TV and desktop computer at the Salvation army but got turned away.
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“He said he had 30 come in in the last few days,” Nelson says.
Instead he took his to the Atlantic Canada Electronics Stewardship (ACES)centre, a not-for-profit operation, with drop-off centres N.S. and P.E.I., that ensures electronic devices are recycled properly.
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario also have Electronic Product Stewardship (EPSC) programs.
Because N.S. and P.E.I. consumers pay an environmental handling fee when they purchase electronics, ACES does not charge when it accepts old and unwanted devices.
This includes:
– desktop computers
– monitors
– notebook computers
– desktop printers
– televisions
– personal or portable audio/video systems
– vehicle audio/video systems
– home theatre in a box (HTB) systems
– home audio/video systems
– non-cellular telephones, including: wire telephones, cordless telephones and telephone answering machines
– home appliances DO NOT qualify for this program
The materials used in TVs, computers and other items have to be broken down and separated into non-hazardous material, electronic scrap and hazardous materials.
Those recovered materials are then shipped off to various locations, in and outside of Canada, to be processed or recycled.
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(Source: ACES)
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