Old PCs Flood the Waste Stream

Strip-Mining Old PCs

Just what happens to that old PC when it lands on a recycler's workbench?

An experienced recycler can strip a PC to its sellable parts inside of 10 minutes, said Sal Massaro, manager of Monmouth Wire and Computer Recycling in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

Massaro does it by hand, with pliers and plastic goggles.

First the circuit boards are pulled out, then they are pulled apart. The gold, silver, aluminum, insulated copper wire, and steel--it's all sellable. The plastic cases are shredded and sold to plastics recyclers. Old computer plastic can eventually end up in children's toys.

These days, aluminum gets 40 cents per pound. A pound of steel gets just a few cents. Copper wire brings 20 cents per pound. With about 1.5 pounds of copper in a single PC, it can take a while to add up.

To make recycling cost-effective, the minimum batch of PCs Massaro accepts is 50. He'll usually arrange to have them picked up in a tractor-trailer truck for free, but sometimes he charges for freight.

Golden Oldies

For A&B Recycling in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, the older the computer, the better.

"Gold was cheaper in the 1960s, so they used more of it in computers," explained Lamar Bearden, A&B's owner.

Bearden gets 10 cents per pound of gold for low-grade gold; up to $1 per pound for higher quality stuff.

Not only is there less gold in today's PC, but it's of a lower quality, he said. "It takes trailer-loads to make a few ounces."

Handle With Care

The hazardous waste of a PC--lithium batteries, mercury switches, and tubes in the monitor, for example--must be extracted and handled carefully.

At A&B, those pieces are sealed in black 55-gallon drums, labeled and sent to proper disposal facilities, Bearden said.

If monitors are all Bearden is handling for a client, he charges $5 to $7.50 to take away each one. But if he's getting other more marketable equipment from the company as well, he usually takes the monitors at no charge.

Walt Disney, Panasonic USA, and General Instrument are among the companies that send used computers to A&B.

"Circuit boards aren't considered hazardous [by law] but they are to me, rotting away and leaching into soil," Bearden said. Companies that improperly dump computers "ought to be fined till they're out of business," he said.