Canning Council is working with Sam’s Spares to reuse electronic waste (e-waste).
Sam’s Spares is run by 19-year-old resident, Sam Thomas.
Sam, who is autistic and has Tourette’s syndrome, saves unwanted e-waste from landfill, and repairs and rebuilds electronics for distribution to a network of not for profits, charities, community organisations and schools.
The city has been in partnership with Sam’s Spares since July 2022 and provides a collection point for Sam’s Spares at the city’s Ranford Road Resource Recovery and Waste Transfer Station (WTS) in Canning Vale.
Since then, the city has diverted 11 per cent of the e-waste collected from the WTS and in the city’s recycling hubs to reuse via Sam’s Spares.
Canning residents can drop off items to the Sam’s Spares collection point at the city’s WTS including laptops, desktop computers, game systems and accessories, laptop power cables and computer parts (including hard drives, graphics cards, memory sticks and motherboards).
This service is in addition to the city’s regular e-waste drop off point at the WTS, which enables Canning residents to drop off e-waste for free seven days a week.
Businesses and residents from other areas can also drop off e-waste at the WTS for a small fee.
“I have the awesome job of being able to do what I love every day – combining my passion with service,” Sam said.
“I am motivated to work even harder to create positive change in our community.”
“It’s great to see community members, like Sam, leading the way in creating a more sustainable future by giving these items a second life,” Canning mayor Patrick Hall said.
This year Sam has been recognised for the amazing work he is doing within the community with a couple of awards wins, including Young Volunteer of the Year at the WA Volunteers of the Year Awards 2023 and the Waste Champion Individual Award at the WasteSorted Awards 2023.
Sam was also recently named as a finalist in this year’s Fred Awards-Humanitarian of the Year, run by the Fred Hollows Foundation, for his environmental work.
For more information, visit the city’s waste and recycling page or alternatively go to www.samsspares.org or www.facebook.com/samssparesinc
