Old phones, laptops and tablets are packed with valuable materials – and with things that shouldn’t end up in the ground. Yet most of New Zealand’s electronic waste still goes to landfill.
The numbers
- New Zealand was estimated to generate about 99,000 tonnes of e-waste a year (around 20 kg per person, 2017 estimate), with only about 2% diverted from landfill.
- In 2020 the Government declared electrical and electronic products a priority product for regulated product stewardship.
- Worldwide, a record 62 million tonnes of e-waste was produced in 2022, and only 22.3% was documented as properly collected and recycled (UN Global E-waste Monitor 2024).
Three easy things you can do
- Keep using it. A new battery or a screen repair often adds years to a device.
- Sell or trade it in. A working device that gets a second owner is the best outcome of all. Get an instant price on our Sell your device page.
- Buy refurbished. A checked, graded, pre-owned device does the same job for less – and keeps a good device in use.
Worried about your data? Remove your accounts and passcodes before you hand a device over; when you sell to Techsite we also erase it before it goes to its next owner.
Sources: UNITAR – Global E-waste Monitor 2024; Ministry for the Environment; Electronic waste in New Zealand.