Garage-full to go!!!

[Gob]

From Tuesday 15 May 2012, Canberrans will be able to dispose of their old or unwanted television and computer products for free under the new National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme. The ACT is the first jurisdiction ready to implement the new scheme.

People can drop off their old or unwanted televisions and computers at the Mugga Lane and Mitchell Transfer Stations which are open from 7.30 am to 5 pm, seven days a week.

It is likely the Mugga Lane and Mitchell Transfer Stations will be very busy in the first few weeks of the new scheme. The ACT Government encourages residents to consider holding their items for a while longer to avoid queues, especially on weekends. The free e-waste recycling service is a permanent arrangement and residents will be able to access the scheme on an ongoing basis.

For more information visit www.tams.act.gov.au

[Gob]

In the room I am sat in, there are three computers, two monitors, a scanner, all of which can go. In the garage...

[dales]

We've had this for years in the SF Bay Area.

Glad to see you guys are finally catching up!

[Gob]

Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN), an organization pushing for the United States to ratify the Basel Convention on international hazardous waste shipment, estimates that at least one in four households will get rid of an old TV this year following the digital transition. That could come out to some 28 million cathode ray tubes -- each containing roughly 5 pounds of lead on average, depending on the screen size -- ending up in the waste stream.

Much of this waste will be recycled domestically. But Sarah Westervelt, a BAN official, said some 80 percent will actually be shipped abroad for processing in China and Africa, in violation of provisions of the Basel treaty that ban the shipment of toxic waste from the rich countries to poor ones.

"Exports are not quantified because the U.S. has not ratified the Basel Convention, and therefore we are not controlling or monitoring our exports," Westervelt said.

BAN has traced a lot of the electronic waste from the United States -- including old desktop computers, laptops, printers, televisions and more -- to a rough processing facility in Guiyu, China, and has produced documentaries on the unfortunate community there. Activists say residents there suffer some of the highest dioxin and lead poisoning in the world as they work through the e-waste in an uncontrolled and highly unsafe manner.

City-organized recycling events provide some of the greatest volumes of e-waste exports, BAN says, as municipal governments facing budget constraints cannot pay for processing and seek out vendors willing to collect the material for free.

"The only folks who are able to do this for free, from everything that we have learned over eight years of doing this work, are people who are exporting it," said Westervelt. "Otherwise, you end up with mercury and leaded glass and materials that you have to pay downstream vendors to manage responsibly."

Australia has ratified the Basel Convention.

[rubato]

"...

Australia has ratified the Basel Convention.

And your major export product is coal for China.

Do you even know what self-parody is?



yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

U.S. coal exports to China could more than double to over 12 million tonnes in 2012 thanks to depressed freight rates and a fall in domestic demand in the United States, the chief of top U.S. coal exporter Xcoal Energy & Resources said.

The expected increase in coal shipments could further push down coal prices in Asia where a supply glut following a deluge from the United States and Colombia has forced prices to slump recently.

Australian Newcastle-grade coal has dropped $10 a tonne since end-February, the Indonesian coal reference price is down to its lowest in 16 months and South African coal has shed $5.

"Exports to China could reach over 12 million tonnes this year based on the annualized numbers," Chief Executive Ernie Thrasher told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

[Scooter]

Exports of coal and exports of toxic waste are not even close to being within the same realm of discussion.

[Daisy]

That's generous of them to take it off your hands for free.

I just got 700 quid for a dozen old computers, monitors and printers.

Might be worth clubbing together with friends and neighbours and seeing what you can get for your old electronics.

[The Hen]

Nothing in Canberra.

There really isn't a market.

[rubato]

Exports of coal and exports of toxic waste are not even close to being within the same realm of discussion.

Coal is edible? Its combustion products are salubrious?

yrs,
rubato

[Scooter]

The same can be said of athletic shoes. Was there a point to your question?

[Joe Guy]

We've had this for years in the SF Bay Area.

Our "Free recycling" in California of electronic waste is paid for when we buy a computer, TV or whatever. We pay an "Electronic Waste Recycling Fee" on those items.

So, although many people think they aren't paying to recycle those items, they are.

If there is no recycling fee in Australia for buying electronics, they are getting a much better deal.

[Jarlaxle]

Or the people in Kalifornia are buying across the state line in Nevada, Oregon, or Arizona, or online, and not paying the fee.

[dales]

Or the people of CA (I'm one) just don't give a flying flip over saving a dollar and a half on a several hundred dollar purchase.

[rubato]

The same can be said of athletic shoes. Was there a point to your question?

"e-waste" represents orders of magnitude less pollution than coal and coal burning in china supplies as much as 29% of the air pollution in California.

Most people can grasp that pollution from either source is not a good thing and thus morally more equivalent than otherwise. Most.



http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010 ... -in-china/



yrs,
rubato

[Scooter]

And that has what, exactly, to do with whether or not coal is edible?

[Gob]

If there is no recycling fee in Australia for buying electronics, they are getting a much better deal.

Yep, there is no purchase recycle fee, but I have to admit I think having one woudl be a good idea.