Loading But with only eight weeks before the landfill ban kicks in, councils warn that the government has not funded enough collection sites, and that community awareness of the ban is too low. “We know for the e-waste landfill ban to be successful there needs to be a comprehensive community education campaign, a network of easily accessible e-waste collection points, and strong markets for the collected material,” said Municipal Association of Victoria president Coral Ross, a former mayor of Boroondara Council. “None of these pre-conditions exist. "Given the broad definition of e-waste being used, councils will be collecting products that have only a tiny e-waste component, with the rest of the product being plastic or some other non-recyclable material." In Victoria alone, e-waste is projected to increase from 109,000 tonnes in 2015 to approximately 256,000 tonnes in 2035.

But councils fear that unless the ban is implemented properly and well-funded, Victoria’s recycling system - already under strain due to a spate of fires and shutdowns - could come under more pressure, with further risks of stockpiling. The system has been badly dysfunctional since January 2018, when China stopped taking most of Australia’s recycled material. A wall of recycling material, at one of SKM's western Melbourne facilities the day before it was shut down by the EPA. The government says that under its plan, 98 per cent of Victorians will have “reasonable access” to an e-waste disposal site, which should take metropolitan residents no more than 20 minutes to drive to in non-peak periods, or 30 minutes for people in regional areas. Most of the 121 new and upgraded e-waste sites will be at council-operated facilities, such as transfer stations. But some residents might find it burdensome to drive for up to half an hour to reach a drop-off point, and may opt instead to dump their waste elsewhere. The government, however, is confident the ban will be a success, with a spokeswoman telling The Sunday Age: “We’re delivering the funding and planning needed to ensure Victoria has one of the best e-waste collection infrastructure networks in the country.”

City of Port Phillip mayor Dick Gross said the drop-off point at St Kilda library had been popular, but had encountered problems, with some people rummaging through the bins looking to “pick up hardware”. Contamination had also become an issue, he said, with people putting the wrong items in the bins. Port Phillip mayor Dick Gross, at his council's South Melbourne waste transfer station in February. Credit:Chris Hopkins “This is an additional cost for councils and the funding at the moment is more interim than permanent,” he said. Jeff Angel, director of the Boomerang Alliance which works to reduce pollution, said councils had received plenty of warning about the looming changes to e-waste collection, but added suppliers of electronic goods should be responsible for recovering and recycling their products after they were discarded by consumers. He said televisions and computers were covered by a national scheme but suppliers were not required to collect all of the discarded items.

The Boomerang Alliance also wants suppliers of other products, including mobile phones, to be responsible for their recovery and recycling.