Hon Amy Adams
Minister for the Environment

14 August 2013

100,000 televisions collected under Govt scheme

Environment Minister Amy Adams has marked the 100,000th television to be collected for recycling under the Government’s TV Takeback programme by taking her own worn-out television to a recycling facility.

The TV TakeBack programme aims to divert televisions from going to landfill in an initiative that involves the Government partnering with a range of councils, recyclers and retailers to provide a nationwide network of subsidised options.

Ms Adams says recycling 100,000 televisions is good news for the environment.

“Old televisions are a difficult recycling challenge, but through people thinking about the environment, we have stopped thousands of tonnes of harmful material going to landfill,” Ms Adams says.

Ms Adams says her old television had been sitting at home unused for some time, and like tens of thousands of other New Zealanders, the TV TakeBack programme had prompted her to recycle it.

“The TV TakeBack scheme makes recycling a television affordable and straightforward.

“If people are cleaning out their house or garage and want to get rid of an unwanted television, there is no excuse for not disposing of it responsibly.”

The programme was launched in Hawke’s Bay and the South Island’s West Coast in October last year, to coincide with the Going Digital campaign. It was then rolled out to the rest of the South Island earlier this year.

The initiative will get underway in the lower North Island and the East Cape later this month, and the rest of the North Island from October.

Through a Government subsidy, the cost to the public to recycle a television is no more than $5.

The programme also aims to improve recycling infrastructure, raise public awareness, and investigate options for the long-term management of electronic waste.

For information about where televisions can be taken to be recycled go to: www.tvtakeback.govt.nz.

ENDS

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