It was great to see the launch of the ‘TV Take Back Scheme’ at the Cavendish Road branch of The Warehouse in Manukau recently.
I was there with Environment Minister Nick Smith and MP Dr Cam Calder.
New Zealanders can now responsibly dispose off their old TVs free of charge at
The Warehouse until October 4, 2011.
You do not have to buy a TV from The Warehouse or take back one that was purchased there.
The TV Take Back scheme, a first for New Zealand, is about encouraging Kiwis to do the right thing.
The scheme will enable 96% of the materials in a TV set to be recycled.
This is a great opportunity for our community to take responsibility, play a part in reducing waste, and reinforce New Zealand’s clean, green image.
Unwanted TVs create a potentially huge environmental problem, as there are about 2.2 million old cathode ray tube TVs.
These old TVs contain an estimated 4000 tonnes of lead.
We do not want to see that going into our landfills.
This is about changing social attitudes to waste, and has been stepped up to coincide with the Rugby World Cup, with more than 2500 new public recycling bins also now around the country as part of the ‘Love NZ Recycling’ initiative.
The TV Take Back programme is part of a wider Government plan to put in place a more enduring solution for e-waste.
It is time to take public recycling beyond the kerbside.
I encourage everyone to take their old unwanted TVs to a participating Warehouse and dispose of it responsibly.
Let us do our part for the environment.
For further information visit www.gets.govt.nz
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi is Member of Parliament on National List
