Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Darker Side of Computer Recycling

Posted by timothy on from the you've-got-poison dept.

Makarand writes "We all know that with electronics it is very difficult to be green. We leave our computer waste in the recyle bin lest dangerous chemicals like lead and mercury seep into our landfills. The more dedicated environmentalists make a trip to the local recyling center where they may be asked around to pay around $15-$30 to recycle their old PCs. But guess what -- these 'recyclers' merely ship 50-80% of this stuff overseas. The Mercury News has a report on this ugly side of the PC industry which merely exports the recycling problems instead of solving them."

1 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. Merc misses good program in their backyard by kellan1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Its too bad the Merc was too busy spreading the bad news to spread a little good news as well.

    Alameda Country Computer Resource Center is an excellent program, about 30 minutes from the Mercury's office, recycles and reuses, and installs Linux on much of what passes through their doors, and ships what they can't use to a special facility in Canada where it is smelted for valuable ores. (and no it doesn't get dumped in Canada, they have stricter laws about that kind of thing then we do)

    Also they only charge $10 for computer drop off not $30, and accept a number of items for free. They publish a schedule of fees on their website.