On computer recycling

08 Aug 2005

Got questions about the environment? Ask Umbra.

Dear Umbra,

Do you have any suggestions for locating a computer-recycling service in the Piedmont area of North Carolina?

Janet Fortune

Ask Umbra continues below

ADVERTISING POLICY

Dearest Janet,

Frankly, I couldn't even have located the Piedmont area of North Carolina before you wrote. With today's technology, however, such ignorance is no barrier to giving advice. The rest of you, listen up, because Janet's question will be your question some day. Electronic waste is a big, big problem.

Computers are nifty, and it's astounding how we went from a model as big as a room to one smaller than our hand in a few decades. But see how we did it: using lead, cadmium, mercury, PVC, PBDEs, beryllium, and other nasties. One result of galloping technological innovation is piles of these and other useful, persistent, bioaccumulative toxins in our incinerators and landfills. As I hope you know by now, it's a short hop from piles in landfills to piles in our livers.

Hay, there's a better way.

So print out and save this information for the day when the screen at which you now gaze no longer suits your needs. The National Recycling Coalition's list of electronics-recycling programs by state will get you started, whether you live in the Piedmont or Pismo Beach. If you can't find anything local, the major manufacturers -- Apple, Gateway, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM -- all have take-back and trade-in programs. (Even eBay has gotten into the act.)

If you are willing to spread the electronics-recycling gospel -- and it is a worthy task -- the nonprofit environmental research organization Inform gives an excellent summary. (Technology has warped ahead in the few years since this was published, but the issues it describes haven't changed.) By the way, ye office workers can do a world of good by insisting on a decent computer end-of-life plan at your jobs; Inform's fact sheet is as good a place as any to start.

As usual, Europe has a jump on the U.S. when it comes to regulations: the European Union recently enacted two major electronic-waste laws that restrict use of hazardous substances and mandate recovery of gadgets. Several countries in Asia, too, have tightened up on both the manufacturing and disposal ends. In the U.S., a law along these lines will go into effect in California in 2007. The rest of us must just promise to be responsible -- and it all starts in the Piedmont. Which, thanks to my computer, I can now easily find.

Soldering on,
Umbra

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Please send Umbra any nagging question pertaining to the environment -- but first check out her FAQs!

The claims made in this column may not reflect the views of this magazine. Neither the magazine nor the author guarantees that any advice contained in this column is wise or safe. Please use this column at your own risk.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

Comments: (5 comments)

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have a Gristmill account, log in below. If you don't have a Gristmill account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

export used computers

another approach to your old computers is giving them to a group like World Computer Exchange trying to bridge the digital gap by exporting U.S./Can computers to developing countries
http://www.worldcomputerexchange.org/

by chardt17 at 6:36 AM on 11 Aug 2005

A Good Resource, & The Dark Side of Recycling

No matter where you are, there's a great website that offers consolidated resources on where to go to recycle things and what to recycle (especially hard-to-recycle things, like computers and cell phone): Earth 911 or http://www.earth911.org. Enter your zip code to find resources in your area.

I've heard some unfortunately sketchy things about our so-called electronics-reycling programs, however. A lot of US companies who so helpfully collect our old computers and gadgets contract with overseas companies, particularly those in East Asia, who lack both the facilities and know-how to carefully process the dangerous chemicals concentrated in things like computer processors and monitors. I've seen videos of poor rural communities processing these chemicals by burning them down in open-air fire pits -- processes dangerous to the health of the individuals and potentially contaminating the water and air resources of the communtiy as a whole. Perhaps Umbra can clear this up for us some day.

by mjl36 at 3:08 PM on 12 Aug 2005

Unkind in-kind

I admire the good intentions behind such projects, but have to wonder if it's really benevolent to ship dated computer equipment off to anyone, no matter how "developing" (read: impoverished) they may be.

Note for instance that GeekCorps does not mention accepting donations of used computer equipment for their work with people living in developing economies.

egertz AT oneatlantic DOT net

by Emily Gertz at 3:42 PM on 12 Aug 2005

E-Waste and iWoes

AlterNet just published an article that talks about recycling old computers and other electronics, and specifically picks on Apple for doing a shoddy job of it.

Frequently asked technical questions about Grist's newsletters and website.

by Corey McKrill at 2:21 PM on 15 Aug 2005

Computer Recycling

I have been using E-Tech Recycling for all my electronics recycling needs. They are a 100% local recycler. If you need more information about their service visit their website at www.etechrecycling.com

by shaimon at 8:43 PM on 09 Jun 2006

The comments of Grist users reflect the opinions of those individuals only, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Grist, its staff, its board members, their psychotherapists, or their aestheticians. Got it?

IBM Me Up, Scotty