If we want to create business solutions that better serve the environment, we need to shift our manufacturing mindset from take, make, waste – to reduce, return, reuse.

This circular economy mindset, whereby products can be endlessly used through continuous business systems, is what gave birth to Computer Recycling.

Computer Recycling is Aotearoa’s leading electronic waste recycler, recycling more that 4.8 million kilograms of waste since it was bought by Managing Director, Patrick Moynahan in 2018. Patrick took out a loan and used his personal savings to purchase and consolidate Computer Recycling into what it is today.

The company’s goal is to eliminate electronic waste from the country’s landfills by actively engaging in sustainable recycling and reuse practices – a mission focused on driving Aotearoa’s circular economy.

The average Kiwi produces 20kg of e-waste per year, which is one of the highest amounts per capita on Earth. That’s around 80,000 tonnes of e-waste per year – estimates suggest that a mere 2% of it is recycled.

A lot of people don’t consider what happens to electronics, or waste in general, once it’s in the bin. It’s trickier for e-waste given it contains toxic plastics and metals which can harm our environment. That’s why it’s important e-waste is properly disposed of, and where applicable, recycled.

For businesses, it’s one thing to manufacture and sell a product, but there needs to be equal consideration for what happens to that product at the end of its life.

Businesses need to be responsible for a product’s entire lifecycle. It’s their responsibility to ensure products are disposed of / recycled properly, and they need to educate customers on appropriate disposal habits as part of that.

At Computer Recycling, e-waste is both refurbished and recycled. Once the e-waste is gathered, it’s then brought back to Computer Recycling’s site in Penrose, and is sorted, graded, and split into two categories – reuse or recycling.

Electronics have a lot of valuable material in them such as gold, silver, cadmium and iron. They also have fire-retardant plastics, nickel, lithium, cobalt, and other materials with no further value.

Anything that can no longer be used is stripped for their most valuable components and exported under Environmental Protection Authority permits to facilities in Asia and Europe. From there, they are returned to base elements and used again.

Items that may have a second life are cleared of data, refurbished, and retailed through Computer Recycling’s retail, outlet CR Tech.

These recycling and refurbishing processes reduce the amount of e-waste being dumped into landfill, preventing further harm to the environment.

Aotearoa is the only country in the OECD that doesn’t have a national e-waste scheme or bans e-waste from being dumped in landfills.

New Zealand prides itself on its clean and green reputation. However, we are one of the worst offenders when it comes to waste, we’re one of the most wasteful countries in the developed world.

To combat the problem and ensure electronic waste isn’t going to waste, all stakeholders need to eliminate e-waste to landfill.

It’s about Kiwis disposing of their household e-waste appropriately. It’s about businesses building e-waste into their sustainability strategy to ensure no business e-waste ends up in landfill. It’s also about product manufacture and creating a lifecycle that doesn’t end with a product on a shelf but through to its end-of-life too.

And it’s especially about encouraging policy and regulation preventing e-waste from going to landfill, and for business to better consider their product’s environmental impact.

Recycling e-waste and provoking change and regulation in the industry are the first steps towards unleashing the power of Aotearoa’s circular economy.