Containers full of computers and electronic junk collected on eDay last month are stuck waiting to be shipped for recycling as concerns over hazardous waste are checked.
A team of independent inspectors, commissioned by the Ministry for Economic Development, is checking 58 containers around New Zealand.
The investigation is costing organisers of the environmental drive thousands of dollars.
Earl Mardle, chairman of the trust which ran eDay, says the investigation is centred on e-waste disposal and the recycling company CRTNZ which was tasked with collecting the goods and exporting them to South Korea for processing. He says it is costing them an extra $400-$500 per container which is tough on an already tight budget.
Mardle says there is one set of rules for the handling of recyclable electronics and another for waste products which can not be re-used.
Mardle says he is confident there is no risk to the environment from the electronic waste. He says the containers of electronic junk are secure and being stored until the situation is resolved. He says as far as he understands, someone has alleged two containers were in breach of a regulation regarding the export of used electronic equipment.
He believes they are looking into whether mislabelling had occurred or if electronic waste had been deliberately included.
"We know there is an investigation and that investigation is about whether our recycling partner has complied fully with the regulations governing the export of electronic waste."
The Ministry of Economic Development has confirmed it is investigating the exporting of the electronic waste from e-Day.
The Ministry says its inquiries into both the 2008 and 2009 eDays are based on information which came to its attention in September this year.
The investigation is expected to take some months.
This year's eDay saw 966 tonnes of equipment collected including more than 82,700 computer parts.
