When personal computers first came into the mass market in the mid 1980s few manufacturers realized the problem persistent technological advances and marketing was going to cause over the next 20 years. Today, computers have a surprisingly short lifespan as consumers seek to upgrade to new features every three to five years on average. As a result, consumers have dumped millions of unwanted computers into landfills every year. Proper recycling is extremely important for many reasons.
Conserving Landfill Space
A discarded desktop computer and old CRT monitor can take up as much as 1½ cubic yards of space in a landfill. One thousand such cast-off desktop systems consumes 1,500 cubic yards of space, enough junked computers to fill six semi-trailers. If for no other reason, desktop computers and monitors need to stay out of landfills before the machines overwhelm the Earth completely with plastic and metals that decompose only very, very slowly.
Protecting Environment
Desktop and laptop computers are jammed packed with a hair-raising list of toxic substances, including lead, cadmium, barium, beryllium and hexavalent chromium. Laptop screens and stand-alone LCD monitors contain mercury. When computers are dumped in landfills, the water shed picks up these chemicals and transfers them to freshwater supplies. Dioxins and furans are found in plastic computer cases and these toxins are vented off into the air when landfills burn.
Loss of Technology
Many computers placed on the curbs in the United States are not broken at all. They still function normally but due to marketing pressures, they've become needlessly "outdated." That technology still has value in many places and situations, including resource-strapped schools and organizations and impoverished communities. Donating and recycling still-useful computers is a very positive choice and a better alternative to dumping.
Educational Benefits
Computer repair is a growing profession and need in our communities, and more public schools are teaching basic computer repair in formal classrooms. Practical experience in working with computer hardware is critical however. Recycled computer systems and parts can be put to better use in the classrooms, in the hands of students, rather than dumped in landfills.
Productive Use of Materials
Many parts of a computer system can be wholly recycled, including ABS plastic in the cases, gold on processor points, copper in wiring, lead, aluminum, and other metals and hardware used in computer assembly. While breaking down old computers into recycle-able products is often labor-intensive--and thus creates jobs--reusing the materials in computers is a better use of base materials.
References
- "Electronic Waste Management and Recycling Issues of Old Computers and Electronics"; Peyton L. Sawyer; July 2010
- "Recycling Industry: Computer Recycling, Richard Pratt, Iphone Recycling, Seattle Public Utilities, Cash for Laptops, Wrecking Yard, Ecopark'; Books LLC; May 2, 2010
- "Reusing and Recycling (Help the Environment)"; Charlotte Guillain; March 15, 2008
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