Central Coast Council has recently engaged with a new e-waste contractor, Toxfree, to maximise e-waste recycling and reduce the amount of electronics ending up in landfill.

Thanks to state of the art European technology applied by Toxfree more e-waste items are now being accepted with more components being recycled.

Council Mayor Jane Smith said this was an excellent initiative and is encouraging residents to take advantage of this free service.

“E-waste can pose major problems when not disposed of correctly, with toxic chemicals such as mercury and lead causing possible pollution and contamination,” Mayor Smith said.

“Through this new engagement, residents can now drop off up to 15 household e-waste items at our Waste Management Facilities at Jilliby, Kincumber or Woy Woy.

“Previously we were required to pay for e-waste items to be recycled, but now Council is being paid with funds able to be redirected towards community assets and services.

“With Toxfree more of the items parts are also being recycled including circuit boards, plastic and metals, reducing the impact on our landfills.

“It has never been easier for our community to ensure waste is disposed of responsibly.”

Toxfree utilise the BluBox process – a Swiss designed processing technology packed in a 40ft container – to break down modern e-waste items such as flat panel displays, smart phones, laptops and most e-waste items found in households.

The process uses an innovative system to break down and separate parts including the extraction of mercury from LCD backlighting tubes.

“This new system has come on at the perfect time following Christmas,” Mayor Smith added.

“I would like to remind residents if they did receive any new electronics for Christams to dispose of unused electronic items responsibly by taking advantage of this free service.”

Visit centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/ewaste for a list of accepted e-waste materials.