Media release
4 November 2010
People in regional South
Australia and Broken Hill will be able to
drop off their broken and obsolete TVs free
of charge under an initiative sponsored
by the Australian, South Australian and
New South Wales Governments.
Regional South Australia
and Broken Hill will switch over to digital
TV on 15 December 2010.
All free-to-air television
broadcasters in Australia will complete
the switch from analog transmission to digital-only
transmission by the end of 2013. Digital
television will provide the benefits of
improved picture and sound quality and greater
program choice.
Over the coming weeks
all councils in regional SA and Broken Hill
will be inviting their local communities
to drop off their obsolete and broken televisions
for recycling between December 2010 and
mid February 2011.
Senator Conroy said
to receive the full suite of free-to-air
channels after the digital switchover, viewers
need to connect to a high definition set
top box.
"In most cases
people won't have to buy a new TV because
virtually all current analog TVs will be
able to receive digital TV by adding a digital
set top box," Senator Conroy said.
This initiative is the
beginning of a landmark television and computer
recycling scheme that will see a national,
industry-led effort to recycle 80 per cent
of all TVs and computer equipment by 2021,
Environment Minister Tony Burke said.
"But until the
scheme is up and running we want to make
sure people switching to digital television
services early in regional areas have a
way of responsibly dealing with any television
waste," Mr Burke said.
"Ordinary household
items like tvs can become quite dangerous
to the environment when they're added to
landfill. We need to find a smarter way
for dealing with old electronic equipment
than just sending it to the tip."
The industry-run National
Television and Computer Recycling Scheme
will be underpinned by Commonwealth Product
Stewardship legislation. The legislation
is a key plank of the National Waste Policy
agreed by all environment ministers late
last year.
The passage of the Commonwealth
legislation and subsequent roll-out of the
Television and Computer Recycling Scheme
will be in time for the commencement of
the switchover to digital in most of Australia.
"It is important
that governments continue to work together
as we prepare for the TV and computer recycling
scheme as we push towards our goal of less
waste and more resources," Mr Burke
said.
Australia produced 43,777,000
tonnes of waste in 2006-07 a 31 per cent
increase in five years and with waste levels
projected to continue to grow, national
leadership in this critical issue was overdue.
Through the national
waste policy we have a clear path for future
action and a huge step up on existing efforts.
Electronic waste is
among to first areas of waste to be addressed.
"As we head into
National Recycling Week next week, I encourage
all Australians to recycle and reuse, in
an effort to reduce their impact on the
environment and build a more sustainable
Australia," Mr Burke said.
For information on the
switchover to digital television call 1800
20 10 13 or visit: www.digitalready.gov.au.
