Councils recognised for e-waste recycling

Product stewardship program MobileMuster has recognised the efforts of local councils in the area of e-waste collection and recycling.

Josh Frydenberg, Federal Government Minister for Environment and Energy commended eight councils from across Australia.

“Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste issues in Australia and it’s great to see MobileMuster bringing industry and local government together to make it easy to recycle and deliver important environmental benefits to our communities”.

The following councils took out top honours in the awards:

• National Top Collector per Capita – District Council of Orroroo-Carrieton (SA)
• New South Wales Top Collector – Hornsby Shire Council
• Northern Territory Top Collector – Alice Springs Town Council
• Queensland Top Collector – Queensland – Brisbane City Council
• Western Australia Top Collector – City of Stirling
• South Australia Top Collector – City of Onkaparinga
• Tasmania Top Collector – Burnie City Council
• Victoria Top Collector – Moonee Valley City Council

Spyro Kalos, Recycling Manager, MobileMuster, said: “Whilst council collections have been steadily growing in the last couple of years it’s great to see an even higher lift this year with councils helping inform and educate their residents about recycling.”

“In the last year councils have increased their collections by a huge 25 per cent and recycled over 4.5 tonnes of mobiles phone and components through the program.”

Over the last decade local government partners have collected 35 tonnes of mobiles phone components for recycling including approximately 420,000 handsets and batteries.

Mr Kalos said that with an estimated 23 million old mobile phones sitting in drawers waiting to be recycled, including five million which are broken and no longer working, MobileMuster will continue to work with councils to encourage residents to recycle responsibly.

MobileMuster’s Top Councils

New South Wales

1. Hornsby Shire Council
2. City of Sydney
3. Randwick City Council
4. Lake Macquarie City Council
5. Burwood Council

Northern Territory

1. Alice Springs Town Council
2. East Arnhem Shire Council
3. West Arnhem Regional Council

Queensland

1. Brisbane City Council
2. Redland City Council
3. Townsville City Council
4. Scenic Rim Regional Council
5. Cairns Regional Council

South Australia

1. City of Onkaparinga
2. City of Charles Sturt
3. City of Tea Tree Gully
4. City of Mitcham
5. City of Port Adelaide Enfield

Tasmania

1. Burnie City Council
2. Launceston City Council
3. Glenorchy City Council
4. Break O’Day Council
5. Kingborough Council

Victoria

1. Moonee Valley City Council
2. Nillumbik Shire Council
3. City of Monash
4. Latrobe City Council
5. City of Greater Geelong

Western Australia

1. City of Stirling
2. City of South Perth
3. City of Fremantle
4. City of Cockburn
5. City of Vincent

Top Collector – Per Capita

1. District Council of Orroroo-Carrieton, SA
2. District Council of Kimba, SA
3. Shire of York, WA
4. Burwood Council, NSW
5. Hay Shire Council, NSW

Pictured (left to right): 

Rolf Fenner (Australian Local Government Association on behalf of District Council of Orroroo-Carrieton, Hornsby Shire Council and Burnie City Council), Councillor Richard Lawrence (Moonee Valley City Council), Councillor John Sipek (Moonee Valley City Council), Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg (City of Onkaparinga), The Hon Tony Abbott MP (Member for Warringah), The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP (Minister for the Environment and Energy), Mr Spyro Kalos (Recycling Manager, MobileMuster AMTA), Rex Mooney (CEO, Alice Springs Town Council), Councillor Kim Marx (Brisbane City Council) and Mayor Giovanni Italiano (City of Stirling)