Junk Your Old PC--Safely

If You Can't Donate, Recycle

Even if you can't give away your old PC, you can still dispose of it responsibly with the help of a qualified recycler.

The tough part is finding a local recycler that will take a PC or parts. Recycling companies are working to establish a national database of recycling facilities. The International Association of Electronics Recyclers is planning a similar database in the near future, but at press time, neither site had launched its list. For now, you can check with your local county waste management department or look in the Yellow Pages under Recycling. Unless you're part of a corporation disposing of many PC or parts at once, you'll probably have to take the PC to the recycling facility yourself. It may even cost you. For example, the Computer Recycling Center charges $1 per item. The center considers the PC, monitor, and printer separate items.

Once you drop off the PC, the recycler will check for reusable parts--large hard drives, 3.5-inch floppy drives, and fast CD-ROM drives--and resell them or donate them to charities. (You can also reuse some of these parts--such as keyboards, mice, and CD-ROM and floppy drives--with a newer PC.) The recycler may send metals, plastics, and silicon boards and chips to other companies that are licensed to recycle those materials, then dispose of the nonrecyclable parts of the machines as the government regulates.

Mandatory Recycling on the Horizon

The push for PC recycling won't go away. The federal government already requires businesses to donate or recycle old electronic equipment, which the EPA considers hazardous waste. But none of these laws apply to individual computer owners. To fill the gap, several states--including Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Wisconsin--are planning recycling laws similar to the Massachusetts regulation that prohibits the dumping of CRT monitors in landfills. In other states, individual counties and cities are planning PC recycling programs.

The National Recycling Coalition has posted a list of state PC recycling programs. Additionally, private organizations are trying to coordinate recycling efforts. Look for programs that match up organizations looking for gear with those looking to donate. The Computer Recycling Center's Wyatt says his organization's effort will begin locally, but he hopes to establish a national program as well.

Other countries have taken a more radical approach to the PC pollution problem. In Germany, for example, the Product Recycling and Waste Management Act holds PC makers responsible for the eventual disposal of computers and componets. As a result, the price of every PC bought in Germany includes a small fee that goes toward the cost of recycling. The European Union passed a rule in 1999 that requires all PC makers to build their systems so that 90 percent of the plastic and metal parts are easily recyclable. Computer manufacturers who comply with the rule get a Green Spot seal of approval.

Whether such a system will ever be enacted in the United States is uncertain. For now, this much is clear: Every PC we own now will become obsolete, and PC pileup in our strained landfills puts soil and water at risk of contamination. We must reuse and recycle old parts and engineer longer-life, eco-friendly PCs. Continuing to avoid the mounting PC waste problem threatens the health of the entire planet.

Michael Gowan is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.