E-Waste Concerns

In September 2012, digital television will be rolled out across the country.  On Monday night, TV3 News looked at what the changeover will mean for the current hundreds of thousands of televisions not compatible with the impending network.  While some televisions can gain compatibility through the connection of a Free View box, many people will opt for a TV upgrade and throw out their old sets posing issues on how, and where to properly dispose of them. Watch the Video.

Jon Thornhill of RCN, stated that while there are current collection points where televisions can be disposed of correctly, there is a fee for doing so. The fee, Russell Norman from the Green party stated, is reflective of current sole responsibility on the consumer, suggesting that in order to have effective sustainable e-waste disposal, producer responsibility must be enforced.

Something that SIFT whole heartedly agrees with.

Source: Rotorura District Council

As discussed in a recent blog post, hazardous waste is any waste that poses a risk to people and/or the environment. Here are some statistics on hazardous waste within New Zealand and an already existing initiative, Hazmobile, which helps communities in Auckland dispose of their household hazardous waste.

In 2007-2008, the Ministry for the Environment surveyed four national landfill sites and presented the waste composition figures. Potentially hazardous waste came in at a high 14% of the waste surveyed -that is a massive amount, considering that in 2006 alone, an estimated 3.156million tonnes of waste went to landfill! More here.

New Zealand is held under the jurisdictions of the Basel Convention, which governs which wastes require permits in regards to importation/exportation.

Exporting: In New Zealand, there are currently thirteen permits which have been issued to companies operating within New Zealand to export hazardous waste. The types of hazardous waste range from printer toner to lamps containing mercury. Between these companies, there is permit to import a total of over 30,000 tonnes of waste!

Importing: Currently there are 24 permits that have been issued to companies operating within New Zealand to import hazardous waste. Ranging from oil to construction wastes, the companies are permitted to export a total of just under 10,000 tonnes! A full list of importers/exporters here.

Hazmobile: Hazmobile is a free service for householders wishing to safely dispose of hazardous waste including: oils, chemicals, batteries and solvents. The Hazmobile operates throughout Northland area with specific collection dates within communities and several permanent drop-off facilities. The waste is disposed of safely and recycled wherever possible. To date, Hazmobile has collected over one thousand loads of hazardous waste! Read more about Hazmobile.

SIFT Photo

What is it? Hazardous waste is any waste that presents an immediate or future, physical, chemical or biological threat to humans and/or the environment. In New Zealand, hazardous waste is the product of households, as well as commercial activities, industries and healthcare. The types of hazardous waste vary; they can be waste material that may contaminate or release into the atmosphere through combustion e.g, dioxins.

How is it managed in New Zealand? Hazardous waste can be treated in several ways:
•    Chemically: Waste can be neutralised, undergo oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis and precipitation
•    Physically: Waste can be encapsulated and/or separated
•    Biologically: Through the use of microorganisms
•    Thermally: Waste can be treated through controlled incineration

New Zealand manages the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste through a mix of legislation and regulation, strategy and guideline policies and non-regulatory methods (such as best practice guidelines and public awareness). Though the Resource Management Act 1991 does not directly address hazardous waste management, it is the RMA that grants resource consents and the conditions on the types of hazardous waste that can go to landfill and the designs of the landfill itself to minimise risk.

Information sources:

http://www.oag.govt.nz/central-govt/2005-06/part11

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/waste/national-definition-tech-paper-oct99.pdf

http://nzic.org.nz/ChemProcesses/environment/14B.pdf

A Takeaway Container You Can Eat and the Individually Wrapped Prune

The 2011 Unpackit Packaging Awards recently took place. Wanaka Wastebusters ran the awards as part of the Unpackit Demystifying Packaging Choices project and with over 100 product nominations and near to 9,000 votes, the winners of the best and worst packaging were recently announced.

The Best Award went to the Potato Pak. Made in New Zealand the takeaway containers made from potato starch waste from potato chip production. They can be composted, fed to birds, pigs or fish and even eaten by humans!

Runners up for the Best Award went to the Speights swap-a-crates, promoting reuse and recycling of used beer bottles and the humble egg carton – reusable, recyclable and made from recycled paper.

The Worst Award went to the ridiculous Sunsweet Ones – individually wrapped prunes, each prune providing waste for landfill.

Runners up for poor producer packaging responsibility went to were Brother Ink Cartridges for excessive, non-recyclable packaging and Cadbury’s Drinking Chocolate which comes in a ‘tin’ made from foil and cardboard destined for landfill.

The awards highlighted that even the best packaging does not have to be presented with glitz and glam and reflected customers’ awareness of good and bad packaging in relation to how wasteful it is.

Treated Timber Source: Lockwood.co.nz

New Zealand’s forestry industry contributes 12% of the country’s annual export earnings, making it New Zealand’s third largest industry. Within this powerful industry, there is the manufacturing of CCA treated timber. In 2005 4,215, 000 cubic metres of rough sawn timber was produced within New Zealand. We found a great report on Extended Producer Responsibility within the Timber Industry by Simon Love (2007) which is a great resource for information on Treated Timber and finding a solution and states that estimates for 2006 show that the amount of treated timber within that timber production total is 830,250 cubic metres.

Data from the Ministry for the Environment from their waste composition analysis from 2008 statistics states that for the whole country Timber makes up 11% of the total waste to landfill. An estimated 3.156 million tonnes of waste went to landfill in 2006 so that’s 347,160 tonnes of timber waste. More here.

A certain percentage of this timber to landfill is CCA Treated Timber which is an issue for all landfills and the surrounding environment.

Radiata pine is one of the world’s most widely planted plantation species and has the ability to grow to a large diameter faster than almost any other tree species. In New Zealand, both the ideal climatic and soil conditions exist for advanced radiata pine plantations, making pine New Zealand’s number one commercially grown tree species and is used for external building structures, including fences, decks, landscaping, pole houses, playground structures, marinas and walkways. However, due to a natural susceptibility to fungal decay, radiata pine must be extensively chemically treated in order for it to withstand the outdoor exposures.

Internationally, CCA treated timber has been banned or had restrictions placed on it due to the growing concern over its possible health implications for humans, and the environmental implications that can result from the chemicals leaching during landfill.

In 1997, The Department of Conservation commissioned a report on CCA treated timber within New Zealand. Written by Dr. Michael Hedley, the report explored the possible future disposal of treated timber, including controlled incineration and fully encapsulated landfill disposal. Dr. Hedley stated in the report that  ‘Though these may be possibilities…while there has been little significant evidence produced within New Zealand on the effects of CCA timber landfill disposal, municipal landfills, will continue to be the most viable option for CCA timber disposal.’ Download the report.

Here are some facts on what exactly CCA treated timber is, and why internationally, jurisdictions have been placed on its use.

What is CCA treated timber?The most commonly treated timber is CCA treated, or Chromate Copper Arsenate. The chemical mixture is injected into the wood under pressure, ensuring that the wood is saturated with the chemicals.

What are the possible health effects from exposure to it? According to the United States’ EPA’s Incident Data System, exposure to treated timber can result in ‘itching, burning, rashes, neurological symptoms, and breathing problems after handling lumber; damage to nerves in feet and legs from CCA sawdust and fumes from construction; chronic rash; eye swelling from dust; headache, nausea, shakiness, and thirst from cutting timber; rashes on arms from dust; nausea and headache from drilling timber’. These side effects are linked to the exposure to high arsenic levels. Internationally, the concern for the health implications has led to the United States, Canada and the European Union banning the use of CCA-treated wood in residential and recreational settings.

Why is their concern for the environment? Currently in New Zealand, the most common disposal for CCA treated timber is straight to landfill. The concern for the environment comes from the issues of chemicals leaching from landfill into the soil. For Christchurch, CCA treated timber is to be placed in kerbside red wheelie bins – for  landfill dumping.

With such prolific use of treated radiata pine within New Zealand, and landfill being the most common disposal of treated timber within New Zealand, it seems worth taking a look at international responses and the reasoning for so many countries placing jurisdictions on the use of treated timber and also to find a solution to the large amount of treated timber that goes to our landfills and affects our ecosytems and human health.

Is there a solution out there that could remove the CCA from the timber so it can be reused or a solution for recycling the timber in some way? Would the Extended Producer Responsibility programme describe in Simon Love’s research work for New Zealand. What could we do? What do we need to do to solve this waste stream issue?

We would love to know. Treated Timber is one of SIFT’s key waste streams to be solved. As such we are inviting expressions of interest to help solve this problem from anyone who thinks the have an idea, the solution, or could help set up a Producer Responsibility Program.

Great photo from EcoCentral (formerly CCC2) showing one of the sites where all of the demoltion waste from the earthquake(s) is being sorted by Transpacific Industries Ltd.

Source: EcoCentral

The Guardian Sue Perkins Lucy Siegal Food Waste

While scouting the internet for yesterday’s food waste pic I spotted this great video from the Guardian newspaper’s Green Team from December 2009. In it comedian and broadcaster Sue Perkins (from the wonderful “The Supersizers Go..” and many other great shows) talks to Lucy Siegle from the Guardian about some great food storage tips to reduce food waste.

I love the idea of keeping a note of what is exactly in your freezer so you can see what is still left to be eaten. And that you can freeze cream and butter and salmon! Genius!

Watch the video.

Read more from Love Food Hate Waste (UK).

Source: Myzerowaste.com

I feel it might be time to start the mantra “Waste Not, Want Not” again after reading the below article from the NZ Herald on New Zealander’s wasting $750million in food a year. That is massive. Think of all the wasted energy in labour, food growth (sun, water), chemicals, fuel for tractors, fuel for ships to bring some of it here, transportation, energy used in our distribution warehouses, energy used in our supermarkets, energy used in getting to the supermarket, waster $ in our spending, the energy used by our refrigerators and freezers (for those products stored in the fridge/freezer), the human energy to throw it out and then the ultimate waste of it going to landfill (some still wrapped in plastic no doubt) and the energy it takes to pick it up from the kerb, truck it to our transfer stations and then to Kate Valley where it sits. Or hopefully, some it is going in the green bin or being composted.

Not really an efficient use of our resources.

It is interesting to read that in Britain they are reviewing their labelling standards to improve consumer education on when the food is good till. This is worth doing here (along with carbon information in its manufacturing/production and distribution).

NZ Herald: Study, $750 million wasted on food by Martin Johnston and Isaac Davison

Kim Hill also interviewed the Australian economist, Richard Denniss, quoted in the NZ Herald article on her show on Saturday morning (Radion New Zealand). Mr Denniss discusses the survey that was conducted and what we can do to reduce that waste (and other wasted items such as “things” and “stuff” that we think we need and never use). Hmm.. again it seems to be coming back to reducing our consumption to reduce our impact on the environment and reduce our carbon emissions.

Download the mp3 podcast of that interview.

Press article from last Friday tells us that the rubble from the Christchurch earthquake (and there is a lot – 4.25 million tonnes of rubble and 325,000 tonnes of silt) will go to a special Resource Recovery Park in Bottle Lake Forest Park, Burwood in Christchurch where it will be dumped and then sorted – some for reuse. This will help reduce the amount of reusable rubble going to Kate Valley Landfill. No doubt in the months to come there will be millions of more tonnes from buildings that might be structurally sound but the ground isn’t so they will have to come down as well to shore up the foundations. Update – this is being managed by Transpacific Industries Ltd.

Only some of the Bottle Lake Forest Park will be used as a Resource Recovery Centre – the rest will continue to be a great site for bikers and walkers.

More here.

List of accreditated places to take demolition material

The list of buildings that face demolition

Reverse Garbage Image via Re-Nest

Found out about Reverse Garbage (via Re-Nest) and it looks like a great idea that we could use here. It is available in only Brisbane and Sydney at the moment and is run by a non-profit that takes industrial “waste” destined for landfill and sells the items to local communities at discounted (really discounted) prices. There is a long list of the items that they have here and it shows just how many resources could be resused before ending up in landfill. The Super Shed, Waste Exchanges (by council) and Creative Junk are similar.

Watch Reverse Garbage Sydney Commercials.