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Changing a School's Tech Disposal Policy?
An anonymous reader writes "I attend a state university where a new building has recently been put in, and a new budget put in place. They have decided to upgrade all the computer systems involved in the department, with a few slight exceptions. From my limited understanding, State policy is that we cannot just let things go, they have to be sent back to the state capital in order to take them off the books. Then they put them in the dumpster. I feel that this is a huge waste of useful machines (some are merely two years old), but I know not how to change this. Any suggestions, or does anyone know where Illinois dumps used tech?"
You might want to verify that they put them in the dumpster. I work in state government and all agencies here send old equipment to state surplus, which lesser funded agencies can get things out of and the leftovers are sold to the public at auctions. If your state government is just tossing all its surplus then you should contact someone in your state legislature about changing such a wasteful practice.
FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO
Have you looked at GovDeals at all? I work for a state agency in Missouri, and all of our equipment ends up being sold to the public through that site. I also notice that Illinois has a good deal of equipment there also.
Go to http://www.state.il.us/CMS/1_buying/statesurp.htm, which is the firs tlink on Google when searching for "Illinois state surplus auction" for more info.
Go to our state online auction site to see if they end up there, too.
There's a reason Central Management Services exists -- it's to provide the central management of the services all state agencies need to kkeep duplication of effort to a minimum. One thing all state agencies need is to dispose of surplus equipment.
I don't know much about Texas or Illinois (limited understanding of geography?). But, in at least one branch of the Fed, they're sent back to a central office and taken off the books. Then, they sit in large metal containers and wait until they're approved for excess so that they can be put out for auction. Then, they're forgotten about and left to age until they can't be sold. Finally, they're sent out for recycling or landfill.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
I work at a college in illinois (chicago to be exact) and we don't throw out old systems. Every few years when they feel necessary or professors complain they will replace our department computers. The computer support people delist them from use and mark them as storage. Then they sell the systems for dirt cheap to students and faculty (who get them for free). I don't know of any policies in place regulating how many systems employees can take but I'm working on acquiring number two right now. I assure you, at least not at this college, they are not tossed in the garbage. Not only is this wasteful and stupid but it is also against the law IIRC. Computer components are very hazardous to the environment. You can't just throw that stuff out. It has to be recycled or disposed of properly, like any hazmat or chemical material.