E-waste ban in place

 A ban on e-waste in household bins is now in place.

From 1 July the State Government will not allow any e-waste into landfill.

Yarra Ranges Mayor Tony Stevenson said that any object that could take a power source – from a battery to a cord – was classified as e-waste.

He said electronics around the home contained precious, non-renewable metals such as gold and platinum, along with mixed plastics and metal circuitry.

Cr Stevenson said this could all take on a new life if recycled.

“Some appliances can also contain toxic heavy metals, such as lead, mercury and arsenic,” he said.

“Recycling your appliances means we can prevent those metals from getting into the environment and re-use the materials safely in new products.”

Cr Stevenson said it was easy to take e-waste to a better place, by dropping items off at a waste transfer station or putting them out for collection in the annual hard waste collection.

Coldstream Waste Transfer Station has a free e-waste drop-off point, thanks to funding from Sustainability Victoria.

Fees might apply at other waste transfer stations.