OTTAWA - The federal government will launch a recycling program to divert its obsolete electronics from Canada's landfills, The Canadian Press has learned.
But the Public Works Department says a scheme to safely dispose of the government's used computers and other gear won't be up and running until March 2010.
In the meantime, a patchwork of industry-run recycling programs are popping up across the country.
"Industry is not waiting for government. We're moving ahead," said Jay Illingworth of the industry group Electronics Product Stewardship Canada.
"We've been at the forefront of getting programs operational and we've recycled now hundreds of tonnes of electronics."
Electronics products contain toxic elements such as lead, cadmium and mercury, which can cause environmental and health problems if not handled properly.
However, recycling is piecemeal across the country.
Alberta's provincial government has run an electronic-waste recycling program since 2005. There are industry-run programs in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, and a similar program in Ontario is to begin next April.
The rest of the provinces rely on municipal drives, charities, retail take-back programs and private companies to safely dispose of electronic waste.
The industry-run programs only recycle computers, printers and televisions. Nova Scotia will add telecommunications and audio-visual equipment to its list next year.
The Canadian Press reported earlier this week that the government had been mulling a program to recycle federal electronics. The project carried a preliminary price tag of $35 million over five years.
A draft analysis prepared last fall, obtained under the Access to Information Act, said such a scheme is needed because not all provinces have programs to allow Ottawa to properly dispose of electronics.
"There is currently no comprehensive strategy to address electronic waste in federal government operations," the document says.
The Public Works website says a federal program that refurbishes government electronics and then sends them to schools and libraries handles 80 to 90 per cent of Ottawa's electronic waste. The rest is sold to recyclers and scrap dealers.
But the Public Works document says the federal "Computers for Schools" program is limited in its scope and mandate.
"It does not address the end-of-life management (recycling and resource recovery), nor encompass the broader range of IT equipment."
It took six days for a Public Works spokeswoman to respond to questions about the government's electronic waste.
Still, in an emailed response Lucie Brosseau couldn't say how much federal e-waste is accumulated annually, or how much money Ottawa spends each year on new electronics.
"Departments do not report on all surplus electronic assets," she wrote.
"While we cannot provide an accurate figure at this time, we do know that there is a very high volume of electronic equipment generated from Canadian federal government operations."
Public Works did not return calls for follow-up questions.
The environment commissioner has said the federal government spends $500 million a year on new computer hardware.
