Listen
The manager of one of New Zealand's largest e-waste firms, Computer Recycling describes the amount of electric goods being thrown away as "an epidemic".
Patrick Moynahan has started a petition calling for a government-led national strategy to make it compulsory to recycle e-waste.
A 2019 Massey University report concluded 98 percent of e-waste from households in Whangarei went to landfill, that e-waste volume is growing up to three times faster than any other kind of waste and that New Zealand relies on voluntary schemes to manage the estimated 98 thousand tonnes of e-waste generated in the country annually.
The government ring-fenced funding from the Waste Minimisation Fund last May for an e-waste project to reuse surplus electronic equipment from businesses and government organisations, and efforts for a national strategy by the previous government fizzled out.
Kathryn Ryan is joined by Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage and Patrick Moynahan.