ICT & The Environment
ICT can have both a negative and positive benefit for our environment.
There are many positive developments - such as teleworking (see more at http://www.telework.co.nz/) and allowing us to better manage environmental services (read about the West Coast Regional Council's flood monitoring system here).
Technology also allows us to find out about Earthquakes not long after they happen - see www.geonet.co.nz .
However ICT also has a number of associated environmental impacts that need to be considered and managed.
For example, what does New Zealand do with outdated electronic equipment? As a society we tend to replace things like computers and mobile phones more readily than we might do Televisions or Fridges and this creates a potential waste problem. Both computers and mobile phones also contain hazardous substances.
To help facilitate sound environmental management of electronic waste, the Ministry for the Environment is encouraging the development of voluntary product stewardship schemes.
![Go to home page [Ministry for the Environment]](http://www.mfe.govt.nz/images/logo.gif)
Product stewardship is the term used to describe a policy that ensures producers, importers, brand owners, retailers and other parties involved in the life cycle of a product accept a responsibility for the environmental impacts of the products through their life cycle.
More information regarding electronic waste can be found at the Ministry for the Environments website: www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/waste/special/e-waste/index.html.
However, what you choose to do with your own electronic waste is also important. As was shown at the recent Dell recycling day in Wellington, many New Zealanders simply keep their old ICT equipment at home and are not 100% sure on how or where to dispose of it.
Do you have old ICT Equipment that you want to dispose of safely?
E-waste is taken very seriously by most major ICT companies in New Zealand.
Recycling your computer equipment not only helps to protect the environment but also helps to protect your personal information as professional recyclers will securely destroy any data on hard drives.
Donating and Recycling Computers
For general information on how to donate computers, refer to the Computer Access NZ (CANZ) Trust website. CANZ recycle business computers for schools and the community (see www.canz.org.nz for further information).
In July 2006, CANZ released a 100-page government-funded action report, titled e-Waste in New Zealand: taking responsibility for end-of-life computers and TVs. A copy of this report can be found here.
There are a number of computer recyclers operating in New Zealand - further information on one local to you can be found in the yellow pages or by contacting CANZ.
ICT Companies
Many of New Zealand's ICT companies offer recycling services. Here is a sample of some of the solutions available.
See information on Dell's recent recycling day.
Dell offers a free (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch - other regions incur a courier cost) recycling programme for desktops, notebooks, monitors, handhelds, printers and peripherals, regardless of manufacturer. More Information available from Dell's recycling website.
HP (Hewlett-Packard) through their Planet Partners recycling service, provide an easy way to recycle any brand of computer equipment or HP printing supplies. More Information available from HP's recycling website. HP also offer a Trade-In program - full details are available on their New Zealand section of their website.
IBM through its IBM Global Financing organisation is one of the largest processors and resellers of used computer equipment worldwide. More Information available from IBM's Global Asset Recovery Solutions website.
Vodafone recycles handsets, batteries or accessories through their recycling programme. For Vodafone this is just part of business as usual. More information can be found on Vodafone's Handset Recycling Programme website.
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The organisations mentioned above are a sample of organisations that offer recycling - the list is not all inclusive. If you have other examples of ICT e-waste projects or strategies that should be mentioned on this website please email us at comments@digitalstrategy.govt.nz.