Computer Recycling Project

 In this project, you are to read the following facts and then answer the questions below.

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According to the National Safety Council, 20 million home personal computers became obsolete in 1998. That number will increase to 60 million obsolete PCs per year by 2005. Think of how much landfill space they could take up.

· Computer monitors contain 5 - 8 lbs. of lead. Other hazardous contaminants in computers, in approximate descending order, are cadmium, zinc, copper, chromium, mercury, manganese, antimony, arsenic, nickel, trichloroethanes, and PCBs (Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls).

· Consumer electronics account for 75% of the lead in municipal solid waste but compose less than 1% of the waste stream. By recycling computers, we can divert significant levels of heavy metals from our landfills where they could eventually leach into the ground water.

· The cost to safely recycle computers is usually $25 - 30 per system and sometimes higher. A computer is made of over 1000 different components. To safely recycle these items they must be disassembled and sorted into categories that can be recycled such as aluminum, plastic, and integrated circuit boards. There are dozens of screws to unfasten to get to the components. The glass in monitors contains large amounts of lead. It must be handled carefully to avoid contamination. All of this work is very labor intensive.

· "Today, two computers become obsolete for every three purchased. By 2005, the ratio will be 1 to 1, which means that we should be able to recycle computers as fast as we make them. For this reason, recycling must be treated like any regular manufacturing task."

· It takes several thousand years for a monitor to decompose in a landfill.

· 68 percent of companies still use a dumpsite as their main source of electronic disposal, wasting millions of dollars each year in assets.

· For every computer that gets recycled, there are four landfilled.

· Compared to recycling precious metals from old computers, mining those materials from the Earth requires 30% more energy.

· Computer systems are replaced, on average, every three years.

· Fifty percent of US households own a computer

· The National Safety Council estimates that over 315 million computers will become obsolete by 2004, creating 8.5 million tons of e-waste.

· In 1999, 24 million computers became obsolete; only 14 percent were recycled.

· In 1997, the average life span of a computer was 4 – 6 years; by 2005, the average life span of a computer is expected to be 2 years.

· Over 300 million computer monitors have been sold in the US since 1980.

· In 1997, only 1.7 million monitors were recycled; each Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) contains 7-8 pounds of hazardous lead

· In 1998, only six percent of computers were recycled compared to the number sold; while at the same time, 70% of household appliances were recycled compared to the number put on the market.

· Did you know that computers, per pound, are one of the most environmentally toxic products on the market? Although personal computers were hailed as the so-called "paperless revolution" when they first arrived, we in the western world now consume more paper than ever before, mostly thanks to inexpensive computer technology.

· More than 700 compounds are used to make one computer work station.

· More than 12 million computers, amounting to more than 300 thousand tons of electronic garbage, are disposed of annually. Much of this is shipped to China and burned, releasing vast amounts of highly toxic chemicals such as dioxins and benzene. Only 3% of electronic junk is currently refurbished and recycled.

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Questions:

Write (or type) these questions and answer each in detail.

1. How much does it cost to safely recycle a computer? Should consumers be responsible for this cost?

2. As computer technology continues to develop, do you think computer waste will become a more or less serious problem?

3. What could be some negative ramifications of not safely recycling computers and monitors?

4. Why might computers be considered “one of the most environmentally toxic products?”

5. On, average, how often do computer systems need to be replaced? Why do you think they last this long?

6. What was the average lifespan of a computer in 1997 compared to what it will be in 2005? Why mite this be?

7. What percentage of U.S. households own a computer? Why do you think this number is not higher?

8. Roughly how many compounds are used to make a computer? How might this contribute to the toxicity of computers when land filled?

9. Producing fewer computers could be one way to reduce the amount of “e-waste”. What are the benefits and fallbacks of this idea?

10. There is a surplus of computers available, yet only a fraction of the population owns one. What are some ways to make computers more available to the population?