Waste Management

Waste Management/Reduction

Telecom supports the practice of 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle'. Our broader strategy for reducing waste to landfill includes recycling and minimisation in three areas - office waste and electronic waste and resource use efficiency.

Office Waste

We reduce office waste by introducing simple but effective practices like printing only when necessary, double-sided printing and photocopying and sending documents electronically.

We reuse office resources such as reusable envelopes made from 60% recycled paper and 40% new paper from sustainable plantations.

Our office recycling programme has been operating since 2003 and focuses on separating waste (including paper, glass, tins and plastic) for recycling with the residue going to local landfills. The programme initially started in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and was extended in early 2008 to include more offices.

To date the programme has been very successful with significant proportions of our waste stream being recycled.

Our annual waste is gradually declining (Figure 1 below) despite growth in staff numbers since the recycling programme started
With over half of waste being recycled the annual monthly residue waste per person has declined from about 11 kg/person to just over 3 kg/person (Figure 2 below)
Since 2003 we have diverted about 1,170 tonnes of waste from being deposited in landfills

This Year ...

Following the expansion of our recycling to more offices and overall we are very pleased with the improvements from last year.

An increase in the overall amount of waste recycled (48 to 53%)
Increasing the number of sites which have recycling

However, sadly this year also saw a small backward step in some areas.

Our highest annual total waste (recycling plus residue) which has been attributed to high number of office relocations (cleaning out old documents etc)
A small overall increase from in residue waste per person (3.11 to 3.26 kg), which is something we are currently investigating

Some key highlights are:

Diverting 274 tonnes from being deposited in landfills in New Zealand
We have settled on a good office coverage of 93-94% of staff
Maintaining over 50% recycling for the year

Figure 3 below shows the monthly progress of our recycling in comparison to last year and clearly shows the results of expanding our recycling programme over the last quarter of the year.

Our Results

See our results on the graphs below:

Fig. 1: Waste Levels

Fig. 2: Proportion of Waste Recycled

Fig. 3: Monthly Waste Per Person

Electronic Waste

Background

Electronic waste (e-waste) is an increasing concern in New Zealand and is already strictly regulated in Europe.

E-waste includes electronics like PC's and monitors, televisions, mobile phones, chargers and modems which contain heavy metals and hazardous substances. If leached into the soil and waterways, these substances can contaminate and impact human health.

Telecom takes the issue of electronic waste very seriously. We work hard to reuse, recycle and effectively dispose of our electronic products like mobile phones and accessories, network equipment, computers and printers.

We also work extensively with the Ministry for the Environment on addressing this issue. We were reported in the MfE report "Targets in New Zealand Waste Strategy: 2006 Review of Progress" for contributing to the NZ Waste Strategy (2002) through our mobile recycling programme.

Mobile Phones and Recycling

Mobile phone technology is developing at a rapid rate. The estimated total number of mobile phones in New Zealand households is 3.8 million. On average, handsets are now being replaced every 18 months. The Ministry for the Environment suggests that more than 25 per cent of mobile phones in New Zealand (825,000 units) are no longer being used, and more than 250,000 unused computers are stored in our homes. (Electrical and Electronic Equipment Survey: A Quantitative Report. January 2006. Ministry for the Environment)

Mobile phones contain a number of heavy metals which are toxic, such as cadmium, lead, beryllium and antimony. Using a handset is harmless until it is thrown into the landfill or illegally dumped. As the handset and battery degrade, they could release heavy metals into the soil and groundwater. A nickel cadmium rechargeable battery in a mobile phone is particularly hazardous because of the high toxicity of the cadmium most contain.

Almost 90 percent of materials like cadmium and lead (found in mobile phones) can be recovered to make new products. Did you know that mobile phone chargers can be recycled to recover copper and the circuit boards inside the phones can be recycled to recover precious metals like gold and silver?

Our Mobile Phone Recycling Programme

We were the first company in New Zealand to recycle mobile phones. We recycle more than just mobile phones, our programme also includes chargers, modems and fixed line phones and associated accessories. Our recycling programme is available to all customers via a Telecom store or dealer, or working alongside their business or corporate account manager. Telecom retail stores and partner outlets will accept all phones and accessories either for refurbishment or recycling in accordance with international regulations.

Our intent is to observe a 100% landfill-free Recycling Policy. This will ensure that old mobile phones and other consumer generated e-waste do not end up in landfills, potentially causing environmental damage.

While our existing recycling initiative only covers mobile phones, chargers, modems and fixed line phones and associated accessories, we aim to ultimately encompass all our electronic waste.

In 2008 we received our export license from the Ministry for Economic Development (MED) to ship electronic waste to our recycling partner, Allied Electronic Recovery Worldwide (AER) in California for refurbishment or recycling. As part of this intergovernmental process (as required under the "OECD Decision") MED had to obtain approval from the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States.

This Year ...

We collected an estimated 55,000 kg of e-waste for reuse or recycling for shipment to AER for refurbishment or recycling. This waste included mobile phones and chargers, modems and cordless phones.

We partnered with Starship Hospital to provide them with old mobile phones as part of its fund raising programme (these phones are sent to Folmah who pay Starship a dividend for the phones). Folmah is an Irish company that arranges for the old phones to be refurbished for use in developing countries or demanufactured and recycled.

As part of our partnership with Starship Hospital we have committed to collect 50,000 old phones for them. For the months of May and June 2009 we have collected 801 mobile phones for Starship Hospital.

We also focused on a campaign to advise our customers about recycling phones in concert with the launch of our new XT mobile phone network which required new handsets.

The sustainable management of electronic waste also extends to old computer hardware and packaging. We also recycle and reuse as much of our old hardware components as possible (eg street cabinets).

Telecom continues to participate and engage with Ministry for the Environment (MfE) on proposed legislation and programmes for managing e-waste (in particular the implementation of the Stewardship part of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008).

What can you do?

Reuse - Ask others if they could use your old phone.
Recycle - Drop your old phone(s) (including fixed line phones, modems and chargers) into the recycling bin at any Telecom Retail Store. We'll even accept phones from other companies too!

Remember to disconnect your mobile phone from the network and check that you've cleared your contacts and other personal or confidential information.

Network Equipment

Where possible we reuse our network equipment. However to minimise faults this is not always possible.

Electronic Waste Strategy

We are currently developing a strategy to coordinate our management of e-waste across our business. Our strategy will include:

Consumer products (mobile phones, fixed line handsets, modems and chargers)
Network Equipment (cables, switches and computer equipment)
Corporate equipment (PC's, laptops, facsimiles and printers/copiers)
Packaging of electronic equipment (cardboard, plastic and polystyrene)