Computer Recycling - Educational Resources

Although much information is available on the web pertaining to the social effects of making, using, and disposing of electronic equipment, we were unable to find a comprehensive informational source directing people to get answers to some important questions. We created this site to assist you in locating information or contacts needed to reduce the impacts of electronic products.

Industry Roadmaps

The electronics industry has over time identified many environmental and energy concerns associated with the manufacture and use of equipment. Roadmaps are used to quantify current state of the art and to plan future use of technology to reduce environmental effects. Several examples of these roadmaps are given below.

The resources below have been organized under various categories, generally following the life cycle of electronic equipment. Note that we no longer provide links to companies ONLY selling refurbished systems. If you notice dead links, or have suggestions for sites to add, please contact us.

Overview of a Product Life Cycle

The life cycle of a product can be viewed as a series of phases that proceed from extracting raw materials, through processing of materials to assembly, use, and end-of-life. There are also potential phases for recycling, remanufacturing, and reuse. The U.S. Office of Technology Assessment created the following diagram of a product life cycle:

OTA Life Cycle Picture

Source: OTA, "Green Products by Design: Choices for a Cleaner Environment", 1992.

Design for Environment

As roadmaps and other initiatives take place, industry and manufacturers must find redesign products and processes to meet the goals of reducing impacts. Below are some links relevant to design for environment issues and cases for electronics.

Materials and Manufacturing Issues

New designs often require rethinking the materials selection choices for electronics, the kinds of resources and substances used in manufacture, and also the creation of new production techniques. Some of the major issues are listed below.

Supply Chain Environmental Management in the Electronics Industry

In addition to in-house design and manufacturing improvements, the industry has begun to coordinate supply chain analysis of environmental issues so that final manufacturers have better knowledge of the impacts of the components they purchase from suppliers around the world. This coordination is done in many ways, from questionnaires sent between manufacturer and supplier, all the way up to detailed sharing of process information. The end result of this activity is increased knowledge of the complete inventory of environmental damage associated with electronics production. It also allows manufacturers to choose suppliers with lower environmental releases.

Packaging

Aside from product issues, electronics generally consume a great deal of packaging materials in transit from factory to customer. Electronic products can be sensitive to movement, but also are generally transported long distances (e.g. from Asia to the U.S.) and thus require high volumes of protective packaging and boxes.

Use of Electronic Equipment

Once the product reaches the customer, the use of electronics often creates significant energy and health effects. For example, a desktop computer plus monitor could easily use 200 Watts of power when in active use. Agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy have created energy efficiency labels (e.g. Energy Star) that are awarded to manufacturers that build in energy saving modes in their products. Earning these labels means the equipment will default to a much less energy intensive mode after a period of inactivity.

Using computers in networked environments leads to the ability to buy and sell products via computer systems (e.g. e-commerce). Finally, the use of computer equipment also has been shown to lead to repetitive stress injuries (RSI) such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

End-of-Life Issues for Computer Accessories

Inkjet and Toner Cartridge Recycling

Software / Old Diskette Recycling

Battery Recycling

End-of-Life Issues for Computer Parts and Components

Component Recycling (e.g. Semiconductors)

End-of-Life Issues for Computers

After electronic products have become obsolete (reached the end of their useful life), they have less value to the original owner. Technically, 'recycling' refers to taking a product back to the raw materials level (in this case, taking a computer and breaking it down into plastic and metals). However many sources discuss recycling when in fact they are reusing computers (where machines are simply donated or reassigned to other people who can use them). Remanufacturing refers to disassembling computers and making new systems from parts (e.g. putting old memory and hard drives into other CPUs). All options generally prevent the landfilling of equipment, and thus have environmental benefits, but be sure that the company you contact provides the type of service you are looking for.

One other type of service often mentioned is 'Asset Recovery', which is essentially a contract between a recycler and an organization to take away excess equipment and to guarantee safe disposal, perhaps with some economic value returned to the organization. This could imply both guaranteeing that no sensitive data was left on machines, as well as proving that no machines were sent to landfills.

As this section has the most links, the following links summarize the categories in this section. Clicking on any of these links will jump down to the list of links for that category.

Product Takeback Programs | Reuse / Donation programs
Computer Recycling (US-based) | Computer Recycling (non-US) | US Regional, State, and Local Programs
US Government Programs | Electronics Manufacturers/Industry Programs

Product Takeback Programs

Product takeback programs set up reverse logistics processes for owners of products to return equipment they no longer want. In the electronics industry, generally these programs are run by specific manufacturers, but any brand of equipment can be returned (e.g. you could send an IBM PC to HP, and vice versa). See the specific links below for details on cost, logistics, and conditions.

Reuse / Donation programs - Coordinators and Resources for Donations to Schools and Charities

Computer Recycling (US-based)

Computer Recycling (non-US)

US Regional, State, and Local Programs

US Government Programs

Electronics Manufacturers/Industry Resources

Manufacturer-Specific Resource Sites

Page last updated 3-10-02