Consumers dumping old CRT TVs is set to become a problem the closer we get to the Digital TV switchover in Australia claims Product Stewardship Australia. They also claim that the Federal Government needs to implement a national recycling scheme to handle the problem.
Despite the adoption of ‘set-top’ boxes helping to extend overall product life, the resulting number of obsolete TVs going to landfill will only increase, and potentially spike in the next two to three years. The need for a national TV recycling scheme has become critical say the PSA
While the vast majority of TV suppliers in Australia are committed to implementing a national collection, recycling for dead TVs, it seems the Federal Government is less interested in an environmentally sound solution.
Product Stewardship Australia (PSA) – the organisation set up by TV suppliers to run a national scheme – has been waiting patiently for Governments to enable its proposed scheme with regulatory underpinning that will ensure potential industry free-riders take on their recycling obligations.
PSA has developed a comprehensive proposal in collaboration with key stakeholders to collect vast quantities of obsolete TVs across the country at no cost to the community. The scheme would commence in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide, and migrate to all other urban centres, as well as rural and regional areas within a five-year timeframe, after which the scheme becomes an ongoing community service.
A major barrier to the scheme has been the reluctance of Governments and in particular the Federal Government to provide effective safety net regulation that can maximise the resource recovery benefits of an industry-wide recycling initiative.
Mr Ken Thompson, Chairman of Product Stewardship Australia – said that “industry is totally committed to funding and developing a TV recycling infrastructure to directly deal with the switch to digital television, but this can only be achieved with the support of the Federal Government. Without safety net regulation to direct environmentally indifferent TV suppliers into socially responsible recycling initiatives, obsolete analogue TVs will end up in landfill with no materials recovery and resource conservation whatsoever.”
