George Lopes

Mr GREG PIPER (Lake Macquarie)—Each year, 870 tonnes of copiers and printers are decommissioned. The majority of their plastics sadly end up in landfill. I'm pleased to say that one Lake Macquarie man has made it his business to save as much of this material as possible from landfill. George Lopes of Rathmines originally started PrintStream Newcastle as a copier, printer and office equipment reseller business. Over the past decade it has expanded to become so much more. Working under the motto of 'there must be a better way', PrintStream actively sources ex-lease and end-of-life copiers, printers and scanners and repairs or refurbishes them for re-sale or dismantles and recycles their component parts. Of particular note is the use the company has made of the plastic printer parts which are crushed, sanitised, pelletised and returned to the plastic industry, or converted into 3D filament to be used in 3D printers. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Lake Macquarie environment, George was named a finalist for the 2021 Lake Mac Environmental Leader Award. I  congratulate George and the team at PrintStream Newcastle on all they do, and continue to do for the environment. Well done.