The e-waste event on Thursday 16 April hosted by the Environmental &#...

The enthusiasm for the e-waste event was evident with the line of sta...

Environmental & Sustainability Initaitives (ESI) team members Cat...

Students eagerly inspect goods at the e-waste event hoping to make so...

Equipment included in the clean up were computers, monitors, keyboard...

Computer Trash becomes another’s Treasure @ e-waste cleanup

Interest in the University of Wollongong’s first e-waste event was so high that over half the line needed to be turned away before they even made it in the door. The first person in line, Mike Robinson, arrived at 6am, ready and waiting for the doors to open at 10. Mike said “I’m not sure what I’ll find in there but it’s good to see this being done, rather than everything thrown in the rubbish. I hope to be able to put a few things together to make it work.”

The University of Wollongong held its first computer waste clean up last week on Thursday April 16, on the main Wollongong campus. Equipment included in the clean up were computers, monitors, keyboards, mice, external hard drives, printers, scanners, data projectors, and even a microfilm reader. Whilst most items were 5-8 years old with some faults, or were superseded technology, one item was more than 15 years old.

The University was ready for the event after weeks of planning by staff, with significant input from faculties, divisions and Information Technology Services. Staff also worked with 2 charities to pass on the best items to those in need. Building on one of the goals of the University to dynamically engage with our communities, negotiations are underway to provide the Wollongong Shepherd Centre with 5 computers and monitors, a laptop and audiovisual equipment. Through connections in the Faculty of Informatics, several computers and other IT equipment are also being provided to the refugee advocacy agency, Strategic Community Assistance to Refugee Families.

University students and staff were invited to participate in the event. Items were offered for free on a first come/first served basis. To maximise access to participants, people were limited in the number of items they could take.

Overall the event was highly successful, with over 90 people taking goods, and over 300 items being reused rather than sent to waste. Cathy Bale, Project Manager coordinating the event, said “the level of interest in this event is just astounding. It is wonderful to see these older items, no longer able to be used at the University, go on to be used by other people.”

The University has recently heightened its focus on the environment generally, and specifically recycling. As such, an event that targeted the new area of computer or e-waste was considered appropriate. Given the success of this event, it may become an annual fixture on the University calendar.