Once upon a time when a computer died, that was it. It may have served you well for years, keeping your accounts, helping you surf the internet and while away the hours at work playing games. But once it ceased to function, or a younger more alluring model came along, it was unceremoniously dumped. There was no emotion, no gratitude, just "off to the land fill with you, you antiquated piece of junk."
But now, thanks to the new WEEE regulations, there is hope for old computers, a chance for them to live out their old age in dignity while they make a useful contribution to society.
From 1st April 2007, WEEE will no longer be dumped. Instead electrical appliances like PCs will be taken to processing centres for rehabilitation or recycling.
- Step 1
Once at the centre, a PC's new life begins with what is known as "the discernment process". PCs which still work, or which can be refurbished and resold, are cleaned, data wiped by eradication software that overwrites everything, including any licensed software, and have all badges removed.
Either the hard-drive or whole computer is then sold on to second hand businesses, charities, schools and the third or developing world. Where hard-drives are unsuited to reuse they are shredded prior to dispatch for smelting and metal recovery. - Step 2
PCs too far gone for refurbishment are then dismantled. Working parts may be used for spares. The rest is sorted into different material categories for recycling. - Step 3
Plastics have until recently been shipped off to China where they were hand separated before recycling. Some plastics with bromide fire retardants are too toxic for reuse so they were dumped. The rest was melted down and recycled. "It may have been bizarrely wasteful, but there was insufficient waste plastic in this country to make investment in domestic recycling worthwhile," says Stuart Randall, Technical Director of DARP Environmental.
WEEE regulations mean there will now be enough plastic to make investment in domestic plastic reprocessing worthwhile. - Step 4
There are two kinds of glass in a computer. The screen is relatively easy to reuse. It is vacuum cleaned to remove its phosphorous coating and is then either recycled as glass consumer products or incorporated into low grade materials such as building blocks or for road surfacing.
The glass from the funnel contains high levels of lead, making it highly toxic and unsuitable for other uses. "Because of the rise of flat screen televisions that don't use glass tubes, this material can no longer be recycled," says Randall. Other uses for it are being sought to reduce the need for it to go to landfill. - Step 5
The high value metal content of a computer is less than a few per cent of weight. Valuable metals such as gold, which is sometimes used on better quality circuit boards to improve connections, account for less than one per cent.
Aluminium and any iron go straight to the UK scrap metal markets. Unlike plastic and glass, there is a well-established domestic metal recycling industry.
Often getting at the more valuable metals is a picky business that can only be done by hand. That is why much of this waste is still exported to the third world where labour costs are cheaper.
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