Mission completed, e-waste lobby evolves

An electronics industry e-waste lobby that campaigned for national e-waste recycling and product stewardship legislation is now set to transition itself into an operational entity to recycle televisions and computers.

Formed by television and computer manufacturers in 2004, Product Stewardship Australia (PSA) sought to lobby the government for the creation of a national scheme for the handling of e-waste.

After a seven-year fight by the PSA, the government finally passed legislation for a national television and computer recycling scheme in June, with a fully fledged scheme set to be phased in from 2012.

PSA said in a statement today that as the legislative process nears completion, it would look to transition itself from a lobby to an operational Product Steward Organisation for the handling of e-waste.

Stuart Clark, chairman of PSA, said today that he was proud of the lobby's achievements.

"Over seven years, PSA has been at the forefront of driving some of the most significant environmental policy reform in Australia.

"This has been a long and committed effort, but one that is ultimately going to benefit all Australians by providing a community-friendly take-back service for obsolete TVs and computers. The PSA board is especially grateful to the association's member companies, who have provided relentless support and funding to achieve a positive recycling outcome," Clark said in a statement today.

Manufacturers that are currently part of the PSA include Acer, Apple, Canon, Dell, Epson, Fuji, HP, IBM, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp and Sony.

The PSA said that it would continue its partnership with the Australian Information Industry Association as it transitioned into an operational entity, and encouraged all current member organisations to join.