New lives for old hardware

Electronics equipment has been characterized as a fast-growing category of municipal solid waste. It’s predicted that more consumers will be replacing equipment more often than ever before. Though the actual volume of computer waste generated in the U.S. is not tracked, the International Association of Electronics Recyclers, a trade group, estimates that about 1 billion units of computer equipment will become “potential scrap” by 2010. Many computers are being stored in homes while consumers look for acceptable reuse or recycling options. However, if all these units were discarded, waste-hauling and -disposal systems would have to absorb a huge amount of material that could contain a host of toxic substances, such as lead, cadmium, and mercury.

If you have considered upgrades or repairs but have decided that it’s really time for your computer to go, first look for organizations that can reuse or refurbish your machine. Local community centers or charities such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army may be interested in taking it. Groups such as the National Cristina Foundation (www.cristina.org/dsf) organize donations of usable PCs for schools and nonprofit agencies that serve the disabled and economically disadvantaged.

If reuse options are limited, check with your local waste-management agency to find out whether your municipality has a recycling program that accepts electronic waste. Many municipalities in states that have banned computer equipment from landfills offer collection or drop-off programs. You can also consult the following Web sites for ZIP-code-searchable listings of reuse and recycling opportunities in your area: www.eiae.org/index.cfm, www.earth911.org, and www.techsoup.org/products/recycle/index.cfm#donate.

Several computer equipment manufacturers offer recycling services. Some charge a fee; others, like Dell, provide the service at little or no cost for consumers buying new equipment. Hewlett-Packard provides a trade-in allowance on new equipment to offset recycling fees.

One caution: Not all equipment that is returned for recycling actually makes it to an appropriately managed recycling facility. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a watchdog environmental group, has found that some equipment has been diverted to other countries where equipment is sent to landfills; there it can contaminate the environment, and some local residents, trying to reclaim valuable metal components, could be exposed to hazardous materials.

Some companies are pledging to track the equipment that is returned for recycling and to take measures to keep the hazardous components out of the environment. (See our April 2005 report on donating and recycling your computer). When choosing a recycling program, look for ones that use a recycling company that has taken the Electronics Recyclers Pledge of True Stewardship. The program is relatively new, but the number of businesses taking the pledge (posted at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html) is growing.

For small electronic equipment, it’s important to recycle the rechargeable battery. For locations where you can recycle batteries, go to www.rbrc.com. The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, funded by the rechargeable-battery industry, collects dropped-off batteries from more than 30,000 locations. Many big-name retailers such as Best Buy and Staples provide drop-off boxes for rechargeable batteries and mobile devices like pagers and cell phones. Some retailers may also host recycling events for larger electronic devices like televisions and computers.