Recycling computers for environmental problems
Website design By BotEap.comThe IT production industry has a large carbon footprint, which can be reduced by reusing and redeploying redundant IT equipment, namely computer recycling.
Website design By BotEap.comWe are all aware of the impact our use of scarce resources is having on the environment.
Two years ago there was a sudden and prolonged increase in the price of steel, copper and gold. These were mainly caused by the rapid and somewhat unexpected growth of the Chinese economy. Why should this have any effect on computer recycling? The depletion of non-renewable resources leaves only two options, find a new (very expensive) material or find a way to recycle and extract the old one. With the price of gold reaching $400 per troy ounce, it suddenly became extremely viable for recyclers, like ourselves, to market our services. There has been a very big boom in computer recycling over the last year. Website design By BotEap.comMost of the environmental concerns with computers lie with the monitor, specifically its cathode ray tube (CRT). Each color monitor contains, on average, four to five pounds of lead, which is considered hazardous waste when disposed of. Computers also contain other hazardous materials, including mercury, cadmium (a known carcinogen), and hexavalent chromium (a cause of high blood pressure, low-iron blood, liver disease, and nerve and brain damage in animals). More than 314 million computers were discarded at the end of 2007, containing 1.2 billion pounds of lead, 2 million pounds of cadmium, 1.2 million pounds of hexavalent chromium, and 400,000 pounds of mercury. Website design By BotEap.comPart of the problem with computer recycling is that after upgrading computer systems, most organizations store their old computers, which serve as backup equipment in case the newer computers break down. These old computers are often stored well beyond their potential useful life. At some point, a decision must be made about removing this team. Continuing to store it is often not a viable option, eventually it takes up a considerable amount of space. The least desirable option is to throw old computers in the trash. Computer recycling comes to the fore in every possible scenario, not only because of the effect it has on the environment, but also the possibility of someone removing hard drives and recovering sensitive data. Website design By BotEap.comA number of factors have led to increased interest from people wanting to recycle old computer equipment, including growing awareness of environmental issues, as well as the recent UK introduction of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive. (WEEE). (1 – June – 2006) Website design By BotEap.comAt the time of first writing this article the BBC News website had an excellent article on identity theft and disposal/recycling of old computers and I quote from that article “The details of bank accounts belonging to thousands of British they are sold in West Africa for less than £20 each, the BBC’s Real Story program found out. Website design By BotEap.comIt found that fraudsters in Nigeria were able to find internet banking details stored on recycled PCs shipped from the UK to Africa.” Website design By BotEap.comThis drives home the point that you should destroy the data on your hard drive, before disposing of the computer or the hard drive on it. Computer recycling is not always about the environment, but also about the importance of company and national security. Website design By BotEap.comFrom an environmental point of view, it is much better to recycle your computer at an official recycling center than to throw it away. It may even be illegal in some countries to dispose of electrical equipment by any method other than taking it to an approved computer recycling center or returning it to the original manufacturer.
Two years ago there was a sudden and prolonged increase in the price of steel, copper and gold. These were mainly caused by the rapid and somewhat unexpected growth of the Chinese economy. Why should this have any effect on computer recycling? The depletion of non-renewable resources leaves only two options, find a new (very expensive) material or find a way to recycle and extract the old one. With the price of gold reaching $400 per troy ounce, it suddenly became extremely viable for recyclers, like ourselves, to market our services. There has been a very big boom in computer recycling over the last year. Website design By BotEap.comMost of the environmental concerns with computers lie with the monitor, specifically its cathode ray tube (CRT). Each color monitor contains, on average, four to five pounds of lead, which is considered hazardous waste when disposed of. Computers also contain other hazardous materials, including mercury, cadmium (a known carcinogen), and hexavalent chromium (a cause of high blood pressure, low-iron blood, liver disease, and nerve and brain damage in animals). More than 314 million computers were discarded at the end of 2007, containing 1.2 billion pounds of lead, 2 million pounds of cadmium, 1.2 million pounds of hexavalent chromium, and 400,000 pounds of mercury. Website design By BotEap.comPart of the problem with computer recycling is that after upgrading computer systems, most organizations store their old computers, which serve as backup equipment in case the newer computers break down. These old computers are often stored well beyond their potential useful life. At some point, a decision must be made about removing this team. Continuing to store it is often not a viable option, eventually it takes up a considerable amount of space. The least desirable option is to throw old computers in the trash. Computer recycling comes to the fore in every possible scenario, not only because of the effect it has on the environment, but also the possibility of someone removing hard drives and recovering sensitive data. Website design By BotEap.comA number of factors have led to increased interest from people wanting to recycle old computer equipment, including growing awareness of environmental issues, as well as the recent UK introduction of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive. (WEEE). (1 – June – 2006) Website design By BotEap.comAt the time of first writing this article the BBC News website had an excellent article on identity theft and disposal/recycling of old computers and I quote from that article “The details of bank accounts belonging to thousands of British they are sold in West Africa for less than £20 each, the BBC’s Real Story program found out. Website design By BotEap.comIt found that fraudsters in Nigeria were able to find internet banking details stored on recycled PCs shipped from the UK to Africa.” Website design By BotEap.comThis drives home the point that you should destroy the data on your hard drive, before disposing of the computer or the hard drive on it. Computer recycling is not always about the environment, but also about the importance of company and national security. Website design By BotEap.comFrom an environmental point of view, it is much better to recycle your computer at an official recycling center than to throw it away. It may even be illegal in some countries to dispose of electrical equipment by any method other than taking it to an approved computer recycling center or returning it to the original manufacturer.