Recycling Old Computers

Ever thought of the appliances available at home that are hazardous to the environment? You could name the air conditioner and the refrigerator. Can you think of more? I could tell you that it contains, on average, four to five pounds of lead. It also contains mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium. I am talking about the computer. A classic computer monitor may hold more than 6% lead and circuit boards have considerable amount of solders.

Most of the known computer manufacturers offer different methods to recycle old systems. Consumers have the liberty to either send their computers to the manufactures or have them pick up the unit. Hewlett-Packard has facilities to select any computer of different brands for a fee, and offers a coupon which can be redeemed at the purchase of another Dell or HP computer. These computers are then refurbished and sold again at a much lesser value alongside with a warranty of 1 year.
Many computer manufacturers such as Dell computers and Apple Inc. have schemes that guarantee free replacement service. This service is made available only to those that intend on purchasing new computers from them.

A beneficial method would be to upgrade one’s computer. With technology evolving, a very feasible step would be to sell and purchase parts such as the memory, motherboard or the RAM. Instead of purchasing a new computer, parts can be replaced to suit the desired purpose of the computer. Parts can be replaced by the dealers for a fee. The parts come under warranty of 1year to 3 years based on the product and the brand.

Keeping old computers within the family may be a pedestal for the young children to learn the advantages of a computer. The five year old system may seem a ‘bug filled’  contraption to you, but for the five year old it is his introduction to the world of I.T. and various methods of entertainment. You can also use the old computer for acting as servers for your printer or other applications. It can also be used as space to save files, to backup files and/or as a server station. Consider the number of movies, songs and other data that could be stored in a 40 GB HDD.

Eco-friendly organization have failed to communicate the importance of safe recycling of computers as it is common practice of citizens to dispose off their units in unsafe methods. Unpracticed ways will lead to identity theft; for one.
Information that is stored in hardware can lead to having customer data, identity, password and a lot of other private information stolen. The reputation of firms that holds this private data is also at risk. Organizations helping to improve the environment should launch campaigns to educate masses of ways to recycle the computer.

The process of effective computer recycling is given below:
1.) The received hardware meant for destruction is securely locked and transported.
2.) The hard drives are shred using appropriate devices.
3.) The use of electromagnets for separating the aluminum out of the waste metals.
4.) The shredded remains are collected and securely delivered to aluminum.
5.) The residual hard drive components are molded to aluminum ingots.