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Texas Makes Green Computing Mandatory
athloi writes to mention that Texas legislators have passed a bill that would require computer companies to provide free recycling services to their customers for hardware purchased. "The bill (HB 2714) requires computer manufacturers to provide a "reasonably convenient" recycling plan that requires no additional payments from consumers. Dell and HP provided some model legislation that was used as the basis for the bill, which will only affect computers purchased for personal or home business use, but it could still encourage manufacturers to adopt efficient recycling programs that might then be applied to all machines sold."
Yes, maybe at first. But Germany has a law that requires manufacturers to take things back for disposal. I think Japan has something similar. It is expected that manufacturers will as a result modify their designs to make disposal or reuse cheaper for themselves. The hope is that this means cutting down on the variety of different chemicals used, and substituting non-toxics where possible.
There is also a notion called Cradle to Cradle which is gaining ground.
So this Texas law could be the US starting to play catch-up.
There is also increasing awareness of the enviro-dumping you mention on the part of developed countries in India, China, Vietnam, etc.
It's a step-by-step process to fix this mess.
I doubt many things are recycled wholesale. Instead, they are taken apart by cheap laborers and machines and sorted into material types. For instance, melting all plastics down can create a cheap source of low-grade plastic suitable for things like residential drainage pipes, plastic mesh, non-fire retardant insulation, etc. Metal can be processed using the same metal processing that normal recyclers use after the more valuable pieces are removed. Ceramics, silicone, rubber, and glass can be crushed/melted and used as additives to asphalt or roofing tiles. Most paper can be recycled, too, or at least burnt fairly cleanly.