One week out from National Recycling Week, Officeworks has today announced the launch of a new and easy way for customers to dispose of batteries, pens and markers, as part of upgrades to recycling stations across most of its stores over the next 12 months.
Federal Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction & Environmental Management, Hon. Trevor Evans MP, is at the retailer’s Osborne Park store in Western Australia today to launch the roll out of new recycling stations, which will enable customers to recycle batteries, pens and markers, in addition to existing in-store collection points for e-waste and ink and toner cartridges.
With only 3 per cent of batteries currently recycled in Australia1, the new Officeworks program provides a significant opportunity to make recycling batteries accessible for more Australians, increasing recycling rates across the country. Currently batteries are commonly thrown into general household waste bins, meaning they go straight to landfill.
Officeworks General Manager Corporate Affairs, Alexandra Staley, said the retailer has a long-standing commitment to making a positive difference in the communities in which its team and customers live and work.
“We know our customers want to dispose of their unwanted items such as batteries responsibly, and that they appreciate there’s value in recovering and reusing the materials. Providing our customers with convenient and effective recycling programs that make a real difference is really important to us.
To-date we’ve helped our customers recycle more than 4,800 tonnes of e-waste, but we know there’s more opportunity in other waste streams. The introduction of our battery, pen and marker recycling is a great extension of our existing customer recycling program and proves our ongoing commitment to the environment,” she said.
In 2012, Officeworks established Bring it Back , which provides customers the opportunity to recycle computers and laptops, monitors, keyboards, printers, mice, hard drives, mobile phones and accessories, cables, chargers, DVDs and CDs. Since 2005, Officeworks has also been involved in Cartridges 4 Planet Ark , which has seen customers drop off more than 10 million ink and toner cartridges at its stores for recycling.
After being trialed successfully in five stores, Officeworks plans to roll out battery recycling to all its stores by the end of 2020, in partnership with Envirostream. The pen and marker recycling program will be available in most stores within the next year, delivered in partnership with BIC.
Customers can find out what recycling services are available at their local Officeworks by checking the store locator online at https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/storelocator.