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AIIA welcomes EPHC e-waste decision

Friday, 22 May 2009

AIIA welcomes today’s recognition from the EPHC for the need to establish a national product stewardship program addressing the recycling of e-waste. “This is a landmark decision, and one that AIIA and our member companies have been working towards for some time,” said AIIA CEO Ian Birks.
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17 September 2008: Byteback for the Environment at Officeworks

Officeworks, in association with Sustainability Victoria is pleased to announce they are participating in a trial of the ground breaking Byteback program, through their Dandenong and Ballarat stores. The Byteback site at Officeworks Ballarat is being officially opened at 1.00pm today by Mayor of Ballarat, Councillor Stephen Jones.

Byteback™ is a free computer take-back program that is being trialled in Victoria to help and encourage the public to dispose of unwanted computer equipment responsibly. It is the most comprehensive and sustained trial of its kind operating in the Southern Hemisphere.

“We are very pleased to be involved in this initiative with Sustainability Victoria, AIIA members and TIC. Byteback™ provides a great opportunity for Officeworks to assist the Ballarat community in their efforts to lessen their impact on our environment by offering a free and environmentally sustainable way to dispose of unwanted computer equipment,” said Mark Ward, Officeworks Managing Director.

According to Sustainability Victoria’s Chief Executive Officer, Anita Roper, the results of the program have been impressive. “Byteback™ has been a real winner with the community, with more than 1100 tonnes (or 160, 000 units) of old computers, monitors, printers and other bits have been dropped off and diverted from landfill so far. For every tonne that we have recycled, an estimated 5.46 tonnes of carbon is avoided. This equals 109,200 black balloons,” she said.

The main aim of the program is to keep old computers out of landfill and through this reduce the hazardous ramifications on the environment. Unwanted equipment that is accepted through the program includes computer systems (e.g. desktops, laptops, etc), computer mice, monitors, printers, scanners, multifunction printers, keyboards, computer power supplies, printed circuit boards, motherboards, network cards, disk and CD drives.

Through the Byteback™ program, these items will be broken down into their original components – plastics, glass, metals, wiring, circuit boards and so on – and sent to various recovery facilities for recycling.

“Computer products make up a large part of our product offering and we are pleased to be able to provide this closed loop recycling service to the public. We hope to provide an accessible and convenient location for people to dispose of their unwanted computer equipment,” Mr Ward continued.

“We look forward to a successful trial and hope to offer this service nationally in the future,” he added.
Ian Birks, CEO of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), founding partner of the Byteback program, added, “We are thrilled to have Officeworks on board as part of this significant recycling program. Australians are great users of computers and as a result we generate considerable amounts of end-of-life computer equipment. It is important that we recycle computer equipment responsibly and re-utilise the materials rather than risk harming the environment.”
The TIC Group plays a vital role in this Byteback trial, managing the movement and subsequent distribution of the unwanted computer equipment.

“TIC aims to assist our retail partners better manage inventory at the back of store. Through our range of value-adding services we help divert millions of tonnes of high-tech equipment, retail merchandise and accessories away from landfill, in an ongoing demonstration of innovation in reverse logistics and recycling,” said Kane Siegel, TIC Group General Manager.“The Byteback™ program is a perfect fit for our business,” Mr Siegel concluded.

Officeworks Byteback sites are located at:

Officeworks Dandenong: 26 – 36 Princes Highway, Dandenong.
Officeworks Ballarat: 116 Creswick Road, Ballarat.

5 June 2008: Byteback program marks World Environment Day with Officeworks partnership

Byteback, a free computer take-back program being trialed in Victoria to help people responsibly dispose of unwanted computer equipment, is marking World Environment Day by announcing a collaboration with Officeworks that will see the opening of Byteback collection sites at two Victorian Officeworks stores.

From July, Officeworks Dandenong and Officeworks Ballarat will provide consumers and SMEs with the unique opportunity to dispose of unwanted computer equipment in a responsible manner rather than ‘dumping’ it to landfill, which has serious ramifications for the environment.

Run by Victorian Government agency Sustainability Victoria in partnership with the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and founding partners Apple, Canon, Dell, Epson, Fujitsu, Fuji-Xerox, HP, IBM, Lenovo and Lexmark, the Byteback program is an Australian first. Through Byteback, government, industry and consumers are sharing responsibility for the safe disposal of computer waste.

‘We are thrilled to have Officeworks on board as part of this ground-breaking recycling program – this is now the most comprehensive and sustained trial of its kind operating in the Southern Hemisphere,’ said AIIA CEO Ian Birks.

‘Australians are enthusiastic users of technology and we discard significant quantities of used computer equipment. It is very important for our future that we recycle this equipment responsibly and re-use the composite materials.’

The Byteback trial will run in Victoria until at least the end of 2008. It is hoped that the trial will form the basis of a national framework to deal with the safe and responsible recycling of computer waste in every state and territory of Australia.

‘The industry is committed to moving this program forward and we have had great support from the community, local government and particularly from the Victorian Government,’ said AIIA Environmental Manager, Josh Millen.

The opening of the two Officeworks Byteback sites brings the total number of computer recycling sites operating in Melbourne and regional Victoria to six. Additional sites and collection services will be established in coming months to enable Victorians in other rural locations to dispose of their unwanted IT equipment free-of-charge.

Individuals and small businesses are welcome to contribute to Byteback by depositing their unwanted computer equipment at any of the Byteback site locations around metropolitan and regional Victoria.

People can deposit desktops, laptops, computer mice, monitors, printers, scanners, multifunction printers, keyboards, computer power supplies, printed circuit boards, motherboards, network cards, disk and CD drives at all Byteback collection sites.

The main aim of the program is to keep computers out of landfill. All the equipment deposited at Byteback sites is broken down into separate components – such as plastics, glass, metals, wiring and circuit boards – then sent to recovery facilities for recycling. Up to 97% of the materials recovered are reused in new products.

27 February 2008: New Byteback location opens at Darebin (Download Document: 50K Word document)

Darebin byteback opening

6 September 2007: AIIA 'proud partners' in Australian-first computer take-back program

The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has welcomed the launch of a pioneering computer disposal initiative in Victoria.

Byteback, a computer take-back program spearheaded by Sustainability Victoria in partnership with AIIA and leading computer and printer manufacturers, will be formally launched by Sustainability Victoria in Geelong tomorrow morning.

AIIA Chief Executive Officer Sheryle Moon said:

“It’s great to see some of our industry’s biggest names working alongside government to keep old computers out of landfill. Byteback is an Australian first because of its cooperative nature, and learnings from Byteback will help the industry prepare for a national approach to disposing of computer equipment responsibly.

“AIIA would like to congratulate the Victorian Government and Sustainability Victoria for its vision in taking such a proactive and consultative approach to reducing the impact of computer waste.

“We are pleased that Byteback will be free to the public and small businesses and gives people the opportunity to dispose of unwanted computer equipment in a responsible way,” Ms Moon said.

Sustainability Victoria is running Byteback in partnership with AIIA and founding partners Apple, Canon, Dell, Epson, Fujitsu, Fuji-Xerox, HP, IBM, Lenovo, and Lexmark. Building on the initial Byteback trial run by Sustainability Victoria and Hewlett-Packard in Camberwell, Victoria, Byteback will expand to include nine Victorian sites and will run until the end of 2008.

“The industry partners will cover the cost of transporting and recycling their branded equipment and AIIA is fully supportive of their willingness to address environmental concerns. We are already in advanced talks with other major players to join the founding partners and we are actively encouraging other industry members to participate,” said Ms Moon.

“We are also exploring another tier of participants – large non-technology organisations who, by their nature, generate significant levels of computer waste. These may include government departments, major banks and financial services companies.”

Sustainability Victoria and AIIA will be assessing Byteback throughout its run to help develop the best solution to be introduced nationally.

AIIA is committed to supporting environmentally sustainable policies and practices for the ICT industry. On 18 October, the association will host a ‘Sustainable Futures Forum’ in Melbourne to explore how ICT can solve the world’s environmental challenges.

Byteback!...To the Future
Byteback gives Victorians the opportunity to dispose of unwanted computers and other IT products in an environmentally responsible way.