While the end of the analogue television signal did not lead to the mountain of discarded analogue televisions some expected, business manager of services Julian Geddes said e-waste was growing.

He said electronics didn’t last very long and people wanted to upgrade their devices more often.

Once a year, council works with waste management venture Netwaste to run an e-waste collection drive, with 5.68 tonnes of electronic waste leaving the Mid-Western Region in the last collection, and a total of 55 tonnes being collected across 11 council areas.

Mr Geddes said while the recyclable material in televisions had little value, materials such as tin, nickel, zinc and copper in computer towers made the e-waste program viable.

The rebate council receives for the program is also minimal, simply covering the e-waste transport costs.

“Council’s not making money out of these things,” Mr Geddes said. “We just want to do the best thing environmentally.”

He said too much e-waste was still going into landfill, and he urged people to keep their e-waste for the annual collection drive, if they have space to store it, and to deposit items such as phones and batteries in the Mobile Muster collection point and battery box in council’s reception area.

Alternatively, he encouraged people to bring e-waste items such as televisions and computer towers to the tip instead of adding them to curbside rubbish.

This means a decision can be made about their disposal onsite, and it may even transpire that council has by then found a way to provide a year-round e-waste recycling service.

Through the year, Mudgee Waste Facility accepts computer towers as e-waste and sends them for recycling when its e-waste cage is full.