E-waste: let’s get rid of it
Australia’s recycling efforts have come a long way in the 29 years since the first National Recycling Week. Back in 1996, only seven per cent of materials were recycled, amounting to 1.5 million tonnes.
Today, that figure has increased to over 60 per cent, with 43 million tonnes recycled. To put that into perspective, we’ve gone from recycling just 80 kilograms per person annually to around 1,700 kilograms!
With National Recycling Week (10–16 November 2025) just around the corner, we thought we’d tackle a major issue that most households are increasingly dealing with – how to recycle e-waste.
According to Recycling Near You, the average Australian produces about 20kg of e-waste per year, compared to the global average of 7kg. Only some of that is currently recycled and turned into new products, but there are many recycling options for various types of electrical products so we can keep these valuable materials in use for as long as possible.
‘E-waste’ is, basically, any electronic or electrical item that has come to its ‘end of life’. It covers anything from TVs, computers and mobile phones to batteries, kitchen appliances and even solar garden lights. But perhaps the term ‘waste’ is a misnomer, because many of those things contain valuable materials like gold, silver, platinum, nickel, zinc, aluminium and copper which can easily be recovered and recycled into something else.
They can also contain hazardous materials, so it is important they are handled, recycled, and disposed of in a regulated and responsible manner.
Recycling Near You suggests the following schemes to recycle electronics and electrical products:
- The National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme was introduced in 2011 by the Australian Government. It is a national, industry-funded recycling scheme that provides communities around the country with free access to recycling drop-off points for old TVs, computers and computer accessories.
- MobileMuster is the official recycling program of the mobile telecommunications industry. It is a not-for-profit program that provides all Australians with free access to mobile phone recycling. MobileMuster is funded voluntarily by major handset manufacturers and network carriers and is accredited by the federal government.
- Cartridges 4 Planet Ark is a voluntary, industry-funded Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program that has recycled millions of printer cartridges and toners. All Australians, including businesses, can recycle their cartridges through the program for free.
- B-cycle is Australia's official battery stewardship scheme, providing Australians with free recycling drop-off points for a range of household batteries.
Fortunately, e-waste recycling drop-off points are becoming more accessible, both in shopping centres and retailers such as Officeworks, so clearing out old phones, computers and other electronics is a lot easier than ever.