The Shift in the Australian Political Climate

It is no secret that the climate has been a hot topic in Australian politics, unfortunately both metaphorically and literally. With the destructive bushfires of recent years, and increasingly devastating floods throughout the country, Australian fauna, flora, and citizens have been the first to suffer from the impact of a threat that is too real to ignore. 

After decades of inaction, Australia, one of the highest per capita CO2 emitters to date, now has a prime minister, Anthony Albanese, promising to breath fresh air on a “new era” of action for the future of Australia's climate. 

“This is a new day. It is a new era. We need to act — and we will act,” – Albanese 

Change is Coming 

In his victory speech, the Prime Minister committed to ending “the climate wars” and becoming a “renewable energy superpower,” and in June, strengthened Australia’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 as set by Morrison’s government in 2021. However, there are pitfalls to consider, and the Australian government faces the dilemma of balancing economic development and sustainability. Coal and other critical raw materials are counted on as key economic drivers for many Australian communities, whilst accounting for half of Australia’s electricity generation. This has been compounded by the recent surge in demand for national output, as customers shun Russian supply.  

The existing perception of Australia as a country that wants “fossil fuel exports to last as long as possible, preferably indefinitely, is of course incompatible with ambitions to limit climate change,” said Frank Jotzo, an academic in climate economics and policy at the Australian National University. 

One of the first big steps forward introduced by the Albanese government is the creation of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCEEW) established on 1 July 2022. The new department has been established to deliver on the Government’s climate change and energy agenda and protect Australia’s environment and water resources.  

Speaking at the Sydney Energy Forum in July, Albanese repeated his promise to introduce new climate legislation, including a target of 43% cuts by 2030 and net zero by 2050 

CSIRO is exploring research pathways in support of a circular economy, with an objective of reducing total waste generated in Australia by 10 per cent per person by 2030 and aiming to achieving an 80 per cent average resource recovery rate from all waste stream applying the waste hierarchy by 2030 

Australia and Waste  

The National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS) was established in 2011. It gives Australian households and small businesses free access to industry-funded collection and recycling services. The scheme has three main objectives that together mean better management of e-waste for everyone’s benefit: 

• To reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, especially the hazardous materials found in e-waste 
• To safely recover more reusable materials from e-waste 
• To provide households and small businesses across Australia with access to e-waste recycling. 

Research led by the ANZRP (Australian and New Zealand Recycling Platform) revealed that 76 per cent of Australians believe e-waste going to landfill is a vital issue that needs to be addressed. Techbuyer agrees with the ANZRP, and the Australians surveyed, that the NTCRS should be extended to include all waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE). 

The environmental benefits of including WEEE products to the NTCRS are large and would include avoiding e-waste and toxic material from going to landfill as well as saving on the energy of mining new resources. 

However, recycling technology should not be your first response to IT disposal. Recycling is unfortunately incapable of recovering all the materials within a device, meaning that the majority of critical raw materials (CRMs) are still being wasted. Refurbishment, repair, and reuse, in comparison, can utilise a much larger percentage (often up to 100%) of a device's material composition, extending the lifespan of the technology and preventing IT from ending up in e-waste landfill sites.  

E-waste and recycling alternatives 

We must work to reduce the impact of e-waste on our planet; however, current recycling processes are not developed enough to tackle the problems arising around e-waste and the shortage of critical raw materials. The best recycling equipment currently available can recover up to 90% of the critical raw materials for reuse. Whilst this percentage is high, there are many options available that ensure that all materials in technology are reused, options that are more accessible than this very expensive equipment. In addition, we must consider the associated energy and carbon costs of this process. Recycling should be the last resort for your used technology with reuse, redeployment and remanufacturing being your first port of call.  

At Techbuyer we believe in a sustainable future for the IT industry and the planet, this means that the problem of e-waste and the effects this has on our global community is a core concern of our business. To us, sustainability is not restricted to improving the environment, but encompasses all issues that endanger human health and basic rights.  

On an organisational level, refreshing technology can result in the lifespan of quality IT hardware being cut short or worse heading to landfill. This is not only a sustainability problem, but also a security issue. Standard delete commands do not completely erase your data and a data-breach is a real possibility if the data is not sanitised. Using an IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) service ensures that your business’s used technology is data sanitised; this eliminates the risk of a potential data-breach and the associated legal and brand image repercussions. ITAD vendors similarly have a commitment to repurpose or responsibly dispose of your IT equipment, meaning that you can minimise the impact of your technology on the environment, as well as the health of our global community.  

Techbuyer signed up to support and work towards the UN Global Goals. These goals, also known as Sustainable Development Goals, are designed to bring about changes in practices, habits, and attitudes to create a sustainable future for the planet. Find out more about Techbuyer’s pledge and efforts towards these goals here.