It was great to see that The Federal Government have Program to recycle TVs as part of the NBN BUT as always the program starts in 2011 and will be rolled out over 5 years.
I am certain everyone wants to contribute to 'Greening' the world but we need to make it easy and wherever possible NOT a direct cost to the public otherwise we will see more and more dumping of goods on the side of the road, into tips and the like.
Surely Councils can all step up NOW and become the collection point (at their tips etc) for TVs, computers and the like at no charge to the public until the Federal Government initiative starts up in your area. I cannot wait up to five years to store the no. of TVs and computers we have collected and replaced.
The Government's Pensioner (~2.2M eligible) & Disability(~800K eligible) $350 'Set top box' program is another scheme destined to fail and be rorted. The set top boxes are just a stop gap measure and eventually will become another land fill issue. Why not simply provide a pension payment and let the pensioner decide how they wish to spend that payment - they may wish to buy a digital TV instead as there are Digital TVs now available for under $300.
Let's not create yet another landfill/waste issue by having the potential for in excess of 1-2 million set top boxes in a few years (or sooner) being dumped. What is the cost of disposing these units?
Why hasn't the Government thought about a more effective approach? Why didn't they think people would be getting rid of (or storing) their old TVs without this program and provide a solution first before creating a wasteful program such as the STB (set top box) one?
Most people have/will simply buy a Digital TV rather than a set top box - it's surprising how we can find the money to do this as we have turned into a society of 'keeping up with the Jones".
Don't create a society where people expect 'hand outs'!!! Build a society where we contribute to the overall well being of the planet and people's values.
The STB program adds no value!!!!
