Comments on: Recycling Computer Parts

By: Cathy

Cathy — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:20:11 +0000

I just saw on Good Morning America that our computer parts are going to a 3rd world country dump where the kids go through the dump looking for copper. Some of these computers have asset tags on them from the EPA and other gov’t agencies…amazing.
There is a danger of toxic gasses when these things are burned.
This made me think twice about throwing out my monitor and the power box that went bad.I am looking for a place that will hopefully dispose of this stuff properly.

By: cardboard shredders

cardboard shredders — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 03:32:50 +0000

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By: kalpesh

kalpesh — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:09:53 +0000

nice info – and its seems to be a big problem — should be sorted out soon

By: Joe Duck

Joe Duck — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 02:19:36 +0000

Randy re: Horrific. Yes, an excellent point. The “news” too often looks for a hook to get readers rather than the balance of rationality.

it was hard to even give away to local charities who themselves demanded the very latest equipment.
Really the original manufacturer should take their redundant product back

So true emalyse – I’ve had this happen to me as well, and agree a good solution may be to build recycling/disposal into the initial purchase. This might be a good idea for any bulky items with short life spans.

By: Randy Holcombe

Randy Holcombe — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:59:58 +0000

To the left of the story about the “Horrific” recycling was a story that terrorists had blown up another group of kids in Iraq. We need to understand what horrific really means. I have sent hundreds of computers off to be recycled in past years. Most of the equipment was working but just obsolete. Even if 25% of it ends up in a landfill in India instead of 100% here in the US, we have made progress. In the mean time, we need to stop using the over the top language to describe our less than perfect environmentalism.

By: emalyse

emalyse — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:10:35 +0000

I used to volunteer for a computer recycler and sadly an awful lot of equipment that was badly graded (by poorly qualified staff) was indeed just shipped to 3rd world countries (where it would probably just end up on 3rd world dump).Hopefully the pressure will be on manufacturers to make future products easier to dispose of responsibly.

By: emalyse

emalyse — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:57:52 +0000

I used to volunteer for a computer recycler and sadly an awful lot of equipment that was badly graded (by poorly qualified staff) was indeed just shipped to 3rd world countries (where it would probably just end up on 3rd world dump) which I always felt was just shifting the problem in an opportunistic and slightly lazy way but having said that it was hard to even give away to local charities who themselves demanded the very latest equipment.
Really the original manufacturer should take their redundant product back (Europe’s own WEEE legislation deals with this but fails to fully ensure that manufacturers dispose of old product in an environmentally responsible way).