Overview

The Victorian Government has spoken to the community and industry on the proposed approach to managing electrical and electronic waste or 'e-waste' in Victoria.

E-waste is growing up to three times faster than general municipal waste in Australia and covers a range of items we use and discard from our daily working and home lives, including televisions, computers, mobile phones, kitchen appliances and white goods. These items contain both hazardous materials, which can harm the environment and human health, and valuable materials which are scarce and worth recovering.

For these reasons, it is important that e-waste is well managed. A package of regulatory and
non-regulatory measures has been developed to reduce e-waste from landfill, increase resource recovery and support jobs and investment in the recycling sector.

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the Victorian Government's plan to better manage e-waste.　

Managing e-waste in Victoria: Response to Comments summarises the issues, concerns and comments raised during the consultation. It also provides the government's responses to those comments, including how feedback has been considered in the final design of the regulatory measures. 　

Managing e-waste in Victoria: Response to Comments and all written submissions can be viewed below. The final waste management policies will be available to view on Environment Protection Authority Victoria's website from 28 June 2018.　

Helping local councils to implement e-waste ban - now starting 1 July 2019

The Victorian Government is investing $16.5 million to upgrade e-waste collection and storage facilities across the state and deliver an education campaign to support the ban on e-waste in landfills.

More than 130 e‑waste collection sites will be upgraded across Victoria, expanding Victoria’s capacity to receive and safely manage rising volumes of e-waste. The education and awareness campaign will educate Victorians on what e-waste is and how to appropriately manage it.

This work will align with the government’s decision to commence the ban on 1 July 2019, which was made in response to important issues raised during consultation on the e-waste ban.

An update on the consultation including some of the key issues received through feedback, the implications of the new commencement date and the next steps of the supporting measures can be read in the document below.