Council agrees to support e-Day 2009 - 14/07/2009Acting Mayor Dot McKinnon today said the Wanganui District Council has agreed to support e-Day 2009, subject to the national event going ahead.
e-Day is a nationally co-ordinated, one day a year opportunity for citizens to drop off electronic waste (e-waste) at a designated site. e-waste includes old computers, keyboards, printers and cellphones. Equipment collected on the day is sent to accredited international recyclers who are able to recover as much as 95% of the materials collected.
"Over the last two years, Wanganui District Council has co-ordinated two very successful local e-Day events," Acting Mayor McKinnon said.
"e-Day successfully diverts about 40 tonnes of Wanganui's e-waste that would normally cost the community to dispose of. The event has minimal costs to the Council to co-ordinate and it is increasingly popular with residents, as well as meeting the Council's vision for waste minimisation. And there’s no charge for the community to participate."
Last year, with the help of local volunteers, the Council co-ordinated e-Day at the netball court carpark opposite the recycling centre. The event attracted 605 cars that dropped off 39 tonnes, or six sea container loads, of e-waste.
It costs the Council approximately $3000 for additional resources on the day. The net worth of e-Day for the community is estimated to be around $30,000.
e-Day is seen as a forerunner to developing more sustainable product stewardship schemes envisaged under the recently adopted Waste Minimisation Act 2008. The event attracts large sponsorship from national corporates and the Ministry for the Environment, allowing national co-ordination of resources and advertising campaigns.
The date for e-Day 2009 has not yet been released but it is expected to be in late September or early October, subject to securing major sponsors. | 
