Tonnes of eWaste Collected at Ecofest – Māngere Bridge eWaste Day 2025

Ecofest is a month-long celebration of Tamaki Makaurau’s unique environment and how we care for it. Friends of the Farm  (FOF) were pleased to support and participate in this venture with two events in Māngere Bridge.    One week after the successful Repair Café, Friends of the Farm held an E-Waste collection at the Ambury Riding Centre in Wellesley Road.  

At this event a steady stream of people arrived, 220 parties altogether.  Some were on bikes with items in backpacks, some in cars and utes with full boots, and a few on foot.  The most unique form of transport was a young lad on a trolley with a car battery at his feet.  Luckily, his mum came too, to push him back up the road!  There were lots of locals using this free service, as well as people from surrounding suburbs.  One car load was from Pakaranga.

Not everyone has transport or a large car boot, so  FOF helped out by visiting 17 households for the pick-up of several big fridges and freezers. 

Over the six hours, 6360kg of e-waste were collected and taken to the Echo Tech facility for repurposing, refurbishing, and recycling. There were 184 kg of flat-screen TVs! By recycling this e-waste, 1842kg of greenhouse gas emissions were avoided, and 37.63 toxic metals were diverted from landfills.

Local Gary said ‘This great service complements the Council Inorganic Collection. It’s great to know these items are not just sent to landfills but repurposed wherever possible. Thanks so much to the friendly and efficient people at Friends of the Farm for organizing this event.’

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