The Auckland Council is hopping mad, but not about stray kiwis this time. A controller for a video game ended up going to recycling, but it didn’t even get that far. The lithium cells in the Xbox console caught alight, although the alert driver ensured no one was hurt.
An Xbox Console and Batteries Don’t Recycle, Council Warns
We wondered why this was the case and contacted Greenpeace for advice. They told us game consoles contain toxic chemicals. They are often dumped and end up in unsafe and dirty recycling yards in developing countries where they harm the health of the environment and workers.
Now if the manufacturers classified game controllers as toys instead, existing European Union rules would ban them outright. We can’t blame the Auckland Council for not recycling an Xbox console. Perhaps manufacturers could be more proactive about classifying them as hazardous. Greenpeace says, “The game consoles market is one of the fastest growing in consumer electronics. Over 60 million game consoles have been sold, and the sector saw a 14 percent growth over the last year.”
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The Auckland Council on the Incident
“While recycling a product, someone may think they’re doing the right thing. In actual fact, the item can cause a fire in the back of a truck, putting the lives of the truck driver and others at risk,” they say.
“Six fires in 18 months is not a good statistic. However it does show people are simply not aware of how to recycle properly. We call this ‘wish recycling’. People simply wish that what they’re putting in can in fact be recycled. We get toys, clothing, nappies and we’ve even had a whole toilet put in a curbside recycling bin.
“The first port of call is to think who could re-use a product like this. Or give it to a friend or family, charity, inorganic waste collection or e-waste collection point. But please don’t simply put these items in your curbside recycling bin,” the spokesperson firmly asked.
Related
Device Recycling and The Risks Involved
To Throw or Not to Throw: Recycling Batteries and How
Preview Image: Xbox Battery Compartment Missing Cover
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