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Apple Now Offering Free Recycling For PCs
MrSeb writes "Do you have a few old, dusty beige-box computers kicking around that you'd like to turn into money? Or perhaps you'd just like to get rid of them, but you lack the means to dispose of them properly? Well, if you're in the US you're in luck: Apple will now provide postage-paid packaging to allow you to recycle your old laptop or desktop PC and its monitor for free, and if it's worth anything, you'll even get an Apple Gift Card in return. In addition, your old iPhone or iPad can now be returned for an Apple Gift Card, too."
Nothing, all they want is the gold on the boards.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Can't you read? You get an Apple Gift Card. Good for one Apple. I suggest a Red Delicious, they're tasty (it's right in their name).
A lemon.
Those are always gritty and terrible. Get a Granny Smith instead.
This is a recycling program. Not a market. It's highly doubtful that any machine returned this way will be refurbished and resold unless it's a fairly new(er) machine in full working condition. Beats throwing it in the dumpster when all the precious metals (gold, copper, etc..) can be recycled and reused elsewhere.
I remember watching a program on TV not too long ago where they said that recycling old computers and electronics to extract gold is actually more profitable and more efficient than trying to mine the gold ore out of the ground nowadays.
If it's gathering dust in your house and never used, may as well get rid of it this way, or determine if selling it, dealing with the headaches and time to sell it is worthwhile.
Either way, it's good that Apple provides this as a free service.
Yes, that is what I thought at first.
Then I found out that the electronics in cheap rc-cars and other cheap electronic toys are actually recycled component that has been desoldered from recycled electronics.
You'll probably maximise your profits by putting it on eBay, the fact that it's a recycling program, not a trade system, is telling.
Or, you could cut your profits but maximise your "emotional return" by selling it to someone you know who couldn't afford one otherwise, either on a payment or for cash. Or send it me :P
This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
Honeycrisp apples are awesome
I'm a huge Apple hatter. If I ever bought an Apple product I would burst into hypocritical flames. But this is a really good idea. I have a lot of clients that a have tons of old hardware that they can't get rid of because of the cost involved in doing so. Now Apple will cover that cost, and make a little money by stripping the precious metals off the techo-trash. This is a great example of the free market's Invisible Hand. Bravo Apple, well done.
Wondering how I can get a Sun E250 in a box and under 60 pounds.... Sounds like a job for Mr. Chainsaw!!
Don't fear the penguins
Red Delicious are one of the worst. Braeburn is where it is at- sweet and tart at the same time- firmer than a "delicious". It's also more fun to say "Braeburn, braeburn, braeburn." If you don't like saying the word Braeburn you're not really living.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I don't want your goddamn lemons!
I'm the man who's gonna burn your Apple store down! With Lemons!
Keep America Beautiful - send your trash to China.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I'm sure that is common practice in Atheistic Socialist Hell-scapes but...
In the United States we pray for Invisible Hands [econlib.org] to solve our problems...
Bless his noodly appendage...
this is good, bringing a little more green-ish stuff to the world
I really hope so, as opposed to being shipped off to some unfortunate third-world scrapper who'll slowly poison dozens of children in outdoor sweatshops.
For all the visibility this will have, I expect that Apple will try to be careful to avoid that. But in the past, many "computer recycling" offers have cut out the hard parts and passed the savings on to themselves.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Unless your desktop PC has at LEAST a Duo Core 2.8GHz processor, it's worth zero in this program.
Now, for those items that are valued at zero, you are referred to www.werecycle.com where they will give you a pre-paid mailing label. And yes, it's nice to get a pre-paid label to get it off your hands, but don't expect that old beige hardware to generate any cash.
They also won't take any iPod Touch devices.
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
a super nice P3 with 512 megs still runs XP pretty decent, just dont go nutty on the net
Actually, their recycler is apparently certified by these guys:
http://e-stewards.org/certification-overview/
which looks substantially better than that.
...You should maybe read the source you linked before posting how you think it works. They tell you in advance what your gift card will be worth when you enter the specs of whatever you're recycling - and *then* they arrange the shipping (Source: your own damn link). No you don't get to barter and no you don't get very much for what you're sending in. The business model is to make an easy way for folks to offload their last computer.
If you'd rather put the time into reusing or reselling it on Craigslist yourself, you'll do quite a bit better. I don't think anybody (including Apple and PowerOn) would argue that.
+1 Disagree
This is pure marketing and "come over to our side" tactic. I doubt Apple is getting much from the value of the machine. Not even in commodity value.
They're partnering through WeRecycle, who is an e-Stewards Certified recycler. Nothing is getting dumped into a 3rd world country. No data is getting mined or leaked.
There is a huge e-waste recycling industry, and this is all pretty standard stuff. I work for one of the major recyclers (also e-Stewards Certified). I thought maybe /. denizens would know more about all this, but I guess not.
The conspiracy theories are pure gold, however. I'm not a fan of Apple (products or corporate), but this is rich. Pure comedic gold.
do() || do_not();
The biggest issue I have with e-waste recycling is that it sometimes pollutes the environment of the countries that are processing the waste for their valuable components and simply dumping the rest. In effect, by "recycling," people are just shifting their garbage to other nations with cheap labor and less stringent environmental regulations. China does most (but not all) of this task. So, if people are going to recycle their old electronics, it has to be done properly. The problem for the consumer is that they generally don't have access to the information that would allow them to know which programs and services are legitimate.
It's my hope that Apple has teamed up with recyclers to give such initiatives credibility, allowing consumers to feel encouraged to send their e-waste for recycling. I hope that this program does things the right way--even if it costs more money--rather than merely serve as a convenient facade for more toxic dumping. Apple has been working hard to reduce the use of environmentally unfriendly materials in their products and substitute easily recyclable materials (like aluminum and glass) in their place, recognizing that you can't pollute what you don't use in the first place.
Many of us have seen how Greenpeace has been slamming Apple for not doing "enough" to address environmental sustainability. We know it's mostly political--by attacking the maker of the most popular consumer computing hardware in the world, Greenpeace gets the attention in the press they're seeking. And at the same time, Apple is forced to work even harder to go above and beyond what other companies merely promise they do. I bet Greenpeace will just find yet another way to spin this program in a negative light and continue to whine about how it's still not enough, just so they can get more headlines and donations.
I "dispose" of my old PCs like I "dispose" of all of my old electronics and appliances. On trash day, I set them out, lined up, by the trash can, and one of several different guys with a flatbed truck will roll by and take all of it before the garbage men get here. I would assume they're either fixing them and putting them back into service (good), or recycling them and getting a profit out of that (even better). I doubt they're just throwing them away, since it costs a lot around here to get rid of that much trash. In any event, it's no longer my problem.
What I DO find highly ironic though... they won't take TV sets. In fact, we had a neighbor evicted and he apparently, unable to pay his rent, had I counted FIVE television sets that were placed out on the curb along with several pieces of furniture and other junk. Those TVs sat there, untouched, for a couple weeks before a bulk trash truck came by and took all of it.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
http://www.freegeek.org/
This could potentially impact how they recycle and reuse computers, especially the fact that Apple is providing free recycling for monitors, which usually cost $12 to recycle in any recycling place around the country.
coding is life
I work for a non-profit that recently set up a computer and e-waste recycling program. I'm actually pretty intimidated right now, because although I believe Apple will lose money on this deal, (unless a ton of people are actually dumb enough to trade a computer that would go for 500 bucks on ebay for a 50 dollar gift card) they may well keep it up as a PR balance to Foxconn, etc. So yes, I'm pretty much just whining, but I won't be the only one facing job-loss because a mega-corporation screwed up and now needs a public face-lift. I urge you to look for local e-recyclers, to evaluate their reputation, and use them instead if they pass scrutiny. Keep in mind that not everyone can afford to be certified by one of the formal programs (like the ISRI's http://www.certifiedelectronicsrecycler.com/ program) but that doesn't mean they're shipping e-waste overseas.