Australia is a long way behind in the recycling of electronic devices.

I don't know whether this is because politicians here are short-sighted or if they just don't have the correct information in front of them.

We are producing mountains of electronic devices with a three to five-year life cycle. This adds up to a huge amount of toxic waste that is mostly being dumped in local landfill sites.

Our generation may get away with just dumping it into the local landfill, but sometime down the track, people are going to have to deal with the serious environmental effects of the mountains of toxic waste we have produced.

Just about all electronic products at present use lead solder and toxic fibreglass boards.

Large, flat computer monitors and TV screens and energy-saving lightbulbs can have mercury in them.

I think it is great that we all install energy-saving lightbulbs to help the environment, but this just hasn't been thought through properly.

How are we going to dispose of all these mercury-contaminated bulbs! Mercury is a highly toxic substance, and if it gets into the local fisheries or water systems, we have a huge problem.

Most smoke detectors have a small amount of a radioactive substance in them. Did you know smoke detectors should not be thrown into the normal rubbish for this reason?

European regulators have started to deal with some of these issues, and have rules that lead is not to be used as solder in electronic devices. In fact, a lot of the lead-based devices that can't be sold in Europe any more are probably being dumped on the Australian market.

If society is going to produce huge numbers of electric devices with a life expectancy of a few years, there has to be effective systems in place to easily and safely recycle all the resources tied up in them.

All electronics should be built from materials that are non-toxic and easily recycled. We should have special recycling systems in place just for electronic waste.

I believe most consumers would be willing to pay a small surcharge on each electronic device they purchased if they knew it would contribute to its safe disposal and recycling.

We need to act now! Ask your local councillor and MP what policies they have in place to deal with these issues.

If you're an audiophile, home theatre enthusiast, or just love listening to music or watching movies, come along to SCCC Inc. and find out how this all works.