Dumping Computers Doesn't Compute!

In the information age, it's hard to keep pace. Families and schools outgrow computers faster than children outgrow clothes. Your state-of-the-art speed demon PC can be terminally upstaged within a few short years. Technology also often breaks; plummeting prices for the "new kid on the block" and high repair costs make it seem cheaper to dump and replace rather than repair. The result: more than three-quarters of all computers ever purchased in the U.S. gather dust in garages, offices and school storerooms. Or these "has beens" wind up in our garbage: according to a 1999 study by the National Safety Council's Environmental Health Center, the number of computers recycled in 1998 was only 6 percent of the number of new computers put on the market that year. In 1999, only 14% of the over 24 million computers that were thrown away in the U.S. were properly disposed of or recycled.

Much old technology, even if obsolete in your house or school, simply isn't ready for the junk heap. There is still a yawning technology gap between the "haves" and "have nots" in both American society and the world as a whole. Your old machine could bring technology and the Internet to underserved communities and countries. Moreover, broken technology is often repaired in programs that bring job skills and salaries to needy families, so even fixing the electronics serves a useful purpose. When beyond repair, enterprising companies can rework computer parts into purses, lamps, clocks, business card cases, and any number of useful and attractive items, giving these objects new useful lives once their computing days are over.

Keeping electronics out of garbage also protects our health and the environment. Many substances used in computers and electronics make them toxic additions to the waste stream: contaminating landfill sites, leaching out into drinking water supplies, and polluting the air if the products are incinerated. Each computer monitor contains on average 5 to 8 pounds of lead, for example, and consumer electronics as a whole contribute an astonishing 40% of the lead that is found in landfills, according to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. By the year 2004, the National Safety Council estimates, the U.S. could house around 315 million old computers; if discarded, they would contribute a total of roughly 1 billion pounds of lead, 1.9 million pounds of cadmium and 400,000 pounds of mercury to the environment. Exposure to these toxic metals is linked to an array of health problems, including brain, organ, and genetic damage. Infants and children are most vulnerable, as their brains are still developing, and lead in particular can permanently impair their intelligence and mental and behavioral functioning.

Plastics in computers pose other disposal hazards. Each year computers contribute up to 250 million pounds of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic -- which releases highly toxic, carcinogenic dioxins when manufactured or incinerated -- into the U.S. waste stream. TVs, monitors, and computer circuit boards also use flame-retardant chemicals known as polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs). PBDE is a suspected hormone disruptor, interferes with thyroid functioning, and has affected development in laboratory mice. Most alarming, some studies have found that levels of some PBDEs have been doubling in human breast milk every five years, and that levels are highest in North American women. PBBs are considered probable carcinogens by the U.S. National Toxicology Program. Many of these substances persist in the environment and in human tissue, potentially inflicting damage for decades to come.

Electronics companies make these toxic products, so why are we consumers left holding the garbage bag? The European Union is considering enforcing extended producer responsibiity (EPR) for electronic products, which would require companies to take back their toxic technology for reuse, recycling, and safe disposal. EPR industries historically have developed widespread, consumer-friendly, cost-efficient ways to reuse, recycle, and dispose of products, often redesigning the products themselves so that they are safer and easier to reuse and recycle. While EPR programs offer the best hope for smart product manufacture and waste minimization in the future, being a more responsible electronics consumer is possible now.

What To Do?

The following computer manufacturers and sellers have take back programs, some of which can even save you money on new PC's:

• Copmpaq: In seven Midwest states, residents and small business that buy new Compaq products can get a 6 - 9% discount for recycling old technology through the United Recycling Industries' (URI's) Electronics Take-Back Program. URI provides shipping boxes and labels, while customers pay URI $27.99 to process up to 70 pounds of returned computers, monitors, and peripherals.
• Dell:Dell has launched DellExchange, an online website with three options for dealing with end-of-life computers: 1) trade in to receive a discount on a new computer based on fair market value, 2) donation through the National Cristina Foundation (see below), or 3) auction through www.dellauction.com. DellExchange accepts non-Dell computers.
• Gateway:Gateway offers customers a rebate of up to $50 on a new Gateway PC if they donate or recycle their old system. Customers are responsible for finding a recycler or receiving organization for their computer, after which they submit confirmation forms to Gateway to receive the rebate.
• IBM: IBM's PC Recycling Service allows consumers and small businesses to recycle any PC and peripherals. For $29.99, the customer receives a pre-paid mailing label and ships the computer equipment via UPS to Envirocycle, an electronics recycler in Pennsylvania. If the computer can be donated, the donor receives a receipt which can be used for tax deduction purposes. Customers can purchase the recycling service when they buy a new IBM computer or purchase the service separately by calling 1-888-SHOP-IBM or shopping online.
• Also look for take-back days at Best Buy and
  Staples, which have offered them in the past (you can bring your old computers to the stores during take-back days and recycle them for a small fee).

The following organizations can help you get the most out of your old technology, and can help youdispose of electronic waste safely:

Computer Recycling Center (Santa Rosa, CA)
www.crc.org/
info@crc.org
707/570-1600
The first full-service collection, reuse, and refurbishment organization in the U.S.; trains people to refurbish computers for schools and non-profits; recycling and safe disposal.

Per Scholas (Bronx, NY)
www.perscholas.org
info@perscholas.org
800/877-4068
A nonprofit organization that brings computers to technology-deprived children and families, trains disadvantaged community residents to become computer technicians and provides environmentally responsible recycling of end-of-life computer equipment.

International Association of Electronics Recyclers
www.iaer.org/
A directory of all electronics recyclers.

National Directory of Computer Recycling Programs, PEP (Resources for Parents, Educators and Publishers)
www.microweb.com/pepsite/Recycle/recycle_index.html
A geographically organized guide to nongovernmental organizations and government programs for computer recycling.

Recycled Computer Products (Web Directory)
www.webdirectory.com/Recycling/Recycled_Computer_Products/
A great set of links to organizations that reuse or recycle computers or electronics components.

National Cristina Foundation
www.cristina.org/
ncf@cristina.org
203/863-9100
Provides computer technology and solutions to give to people with disabilities, students at risk and economically disadvantaged persons.

UsedComputer.com
www.usedcomputer.com/nonprof.html
An informative directory of places to donate or dispose of used computers.

E-cycling Resources
www.pbs.org/now/science/ecyclemap.html
A great compendium of electronics recycling information from the PBS series NOW with Bill Moyers.

References:

• "Poison PC's, Toxic TV's," Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/poisonpc.htm
• "Just Say No to E-Waste," Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/sayno.htm
• "Warning: Computers Can be Hazardous to Your Health," Greenpeace, archive.greenpeace.org/~toxics/html/content/warning.html
• "Return to Vendor: A Solution to Obsolete Computer Equipment," Inform, www.informinc.org/eprgate.htm
• "Poison PC's," Jim Fisher, Salon.com, dir.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/09/18/toxic_pc/index.html
• "Burned by Flame Retardants?" Charlotte Schubert, Science News, Vol. 160, No. 15, Oct. 13, 2001, p. 238, available at www.sciencenews.org/20011013/bob18.asp

Image courtesy of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.