Computer Recycling: What You Need to Know
Computers are now an important part of everyday life in the 21st century, and as technology advances and prices fall, more and more computers and IT equipment are being replaced on a regular basis, leaving the question of what happens to computers. old.
According to Waste Online, the market for refurbished computers has increased by 500% in the last few years, yet less than 20% of junk computers are recycled. In the UK alone, around one million tonnes of electronic and electrical waste is produced and IT equipment accounts for almost 40% of this waste and so far a large proportion of it has ended up in landfill or incinerated. This poses a huge threat to the environment and our health, as computers are loaded with toxic material and as such are considered hazardous waste. Monitors, for example, contain a lot of lead.
New regulations have been introduced to limit the amount of electronic and electrical waste, including computer and IT equipment, that ends up in landfills.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006
The regulations went into effect on January 2, 2007 and will be fully implemented as of July 1, 2007 and require anyone who manufactures, marks, or imports electrical and electronic equipment that entered the market after August 13, 2005 will be responsible for safety and the environment. friendly disposition of that team.
This means that they will have to finance the cost of collecting, treating and recycling all electrical and electronic equipment and by March 15, 2007 they would have to have registered with a compliance scheme in order to do so. By April 2007, they must mark their products with a crossed wheelie bin symbol, which means they should not be disposed of with other household waste.
So what options do you have as a consumer when you no longer need your old computer?
computer disposal
If you want to get rid of an old computer or parts of a computer, you basically have several options:
sell it
If your computer is in good working order, you can ask for someone looking for a low-cost PC, or perhaps put an ad in your local paper or in your local store windows. This way everyone wins since the computer is reused by someone else, you get something for it and it doesn’t harm the environment.
Returning your computer to the manufacturer
More and more companies are offering a free return service for their old computers (DELL, for example), so you may return the computer to the manufacturer, and many other specialist computer companies may even keep the old one when you need it. you buy a new one so it’s always worth asking.
Take it to a Recycling Center
You can take your old computer to an established waste disposal center for recycling. First of all, you need to check what they can accept and whether or not they will take care of deleting files and personal data from the computer hard drive. Even if your computer is not in good working order, it can often be repaired and upgraded to the point where it is useful to someone else. If this is the case, it is advisable to check beforehand that they comply with the Electrical Equipment (Safety Regulations) 1994, which requires that all equipment be safe to use.
Donate your computer to someone else
Most computers can be reused by someone else, so another option is to donate the computer to a nonprofit or organization specializing in redistributing computers, possibly to schools or third world countries. If you have any software you wish to donate with the computer, please try to gather all relevant licenses and supporting documentation. An important point is to find out what will happen to the computer when it needs to be disposed of, especially if it may end up in a third world country, as there is no point in protecting the environment at home only to contaminate it elsewhere.
Data Protection
One of the main concerns when recycling computers is what happens to sensitive and personal data that might be present on the hard drive. Most organizations that specialize in redistributing or reselling old computer equipment will make sure to reformat your hard drive and erase all personal data, but you should always double check. If you are more technically minded, you can, if you prefer, clean up your computer yourself beforehand. If your computer has been used for business purposes, then under the Data Protection Act all information collected by companies must be destroyed when the storage system on which it was stored (your computer’s hard drive, for example) is no longer is being used by the company.
Conclusion
As responsible citizens, we all have an obligation to ensure that our IT and computer equipment is disposed of in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. To be sure that this is the case, it is essential to only use companies and organizations that are fully licensed by the relevant governing bodies.