Australians Want Their Plasma TVs, Producing Record Amounts Of Toxic Waste - SMH

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AUSTRALIA'S hunger for the latest high-tech televisions and other electronic gadgets is creating record amounts of toxic waste. About 98 per cent of discarded televisions, computers and mobile phones, end up as "e-waste", dumped in landfills. Many of the items contain dangerous materials including mercury and cadmium.

People upgrading to flat-screen plasma and LCD televisions and discarding their old TVs are driving much of the electronic waste, environment groups say. Sales of flat-screen televisions have boomed by 55 per cent this year, figures from market research company GfK Australia show.

The high turnover of electronic items is being driven by plummeting prices and an ever-increasing range of must-have technology. But with many electronic items packed with chemicals, there are concerns that toxins are leaching into the watertable at landfill sites.

As e-waste grows at five times normal waste rates, as little as 2per cent of it is being recycled, recycling company SIMS Group says.

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http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/plasma-tv-graveyard/2007/08/11/1186530677593.html