Computer Recycling Services - Should You Bother?It is seen as the next big global environmental catastrophe after the thinning of the ozone layer. Industrialized and developing countries are at a loss to find solutions to their e-waste problem. In the 70's and 80's the advanced West had some advantage in dumping their old computers and other electronic gadgets to the underdeveloped and developing nations but with stricter anti-dumping laws in place this option is also not viable. This is when researchers started working on a solution and came up with computer recycling services. A PC computer has a life span of two to three years and after that it needs to be upgraded or sold off. If we take the case of large corporations they have a mandate to change their peripherals at a certain frequency. It becomes a challenge for them to dispose huge inventories. This is when computer e-waste recycling companies come to the rescue. Reuse of old computers is possible by upgrading the old hardware and putting them back in working condition. Computer recycling companies offer various kind of services. They take full ownership of your old computers, the hard disk drives are either destroyed or sanitized, any identity of the original owner is destroyed, unwanted components are destroyed and a certificate of disposal is offered to the original owner. The total cost to recycle old computers comes out much cheaper than if you try to do it inhouse. Doing it inhouse can cost you approximately $400. An organization may have different plans regarding their old computer peripherals. The management may decide to donate the equipments to needy children after refurbishing them or they may plan to give to the employees at a fractional price. The company may also decide on old computer reuse in some other department where older machines can suffice after small upgradations. Firms which recycle and refurbish old computer take up these jobs and executes them satisfactorily. Not only larger organizations, but even smaller firms have to dispose of their old computers. Disposing 10 computers is also a challenge and PC disposal companies offer their services to medium and small scale businesses also. In Europe and America laws have come into place which make it mandatory for organizations to dispose their e-waste safely. The objective of these laws is to protect the environment from the hazardous wastes that are radiated from computers and other electronic equipments. Large corporations such as IBM have their corporate environment policies in place which work within the framework of the environmental laws of the countries in which they operate. As technology moves ahead, so will the amount of e-waste. It is necessary for us to plan e-waste recycle methods and have robust systems in place. Companies recycling e-wastes will need to invest more on technology so that processes become more effective and environment friendly. Past estimates indicate that the number of PC's that have become obsolete by 2002 were around 80 million. These figures give us an estimate the amount of e-waste that is going to accumulate if we do not act fast. Choosing a computer recycling service is not difficult once you know what to expect from them. |