Computer Recycling Makes Both Environmental and Economic Sense
Nearly 100% of the materials found in a computer have a value somewhere in the world as a recyclable material.
Why Recycle?
Discarded electronics waste valuable resources. Electronic products are made up of valuable resources, including precious and other metals, engineered plastics, glass, and other materials, all of which require energy to source and manufacture. Many electronic products also contain parts that could be profitably refurbished and reused with little effort. When we throw away old electronic equipment, we're throwing away these resources and generating additional pollution associated with the need to access virgin materials and manufacture new products.
Discarded electronics may contain hazardous or toxic substances. Some electronic products (notably those with cathode ray tubes or CRTs, circuit boards, batteries, and mercury switches) contain hazardous or toxic materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and some types of flame retardants, and do so in amounts that may cause them to test hazardous under federal law. In particular, the glass screens, or CRTs in computer monitors and televisions can contain as much as 27 percent lead. Some estimate that since many batteries (such as car batteries) have started to be removed from waste, electronic products represent the largest remaining contributor of heavy metals to the solid waste stream. There is concern, particularly at the state and local levels, that products containing these constituents might pose some environmental risks if they are not properly managed at end-of-life.
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Natural Resources Used In
The Manufacture
Of Desktop Computers
There are approximately 6 pounds of ABS or polystyrene plastics found in a standard desktop computer system, which includes a CPU, monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Each pound of plastic requires 2 cups of crude oil and 50 cubic feet of natural gas to manufacture.
Thus each new computer system requires 1 1/2 gallons of crude oil and 300 cubic feet of natural gas to manufacture.
With 25 million new computer systems sold in this country each year, new computer manufacturing requires the consumption of approximately 1million barrels of crude oil, and 7.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas every year.
Materials Found In A Ton Of
Random Electronic Board
MATERIAL |
LBS/TON |
MATERIAL |
LBS/TON |
PLASTICS |
600 |
GOLD |
1 |
COPPER |
286 |
CADMIUM |
.79 |
IRON |
90 |
TANTALUM |
.38 |
|
|
MOLYBDENUM |
.31 |
BROMINE |
56 |
PALLADIUM |
.25 |
LEAD |
54 |
BERYLLIUM |
.18 |
TIN |
44 |
COBALT |
.17 |
NICKEL |
40 |
CERIUM |
.10 |
ANTIMONY |
22 |
PLATINUM |
.07 |
ZINC |
9 |
LANTHANUM |
.06 |
SILVER |
1 |
MERCURY |
.02 |
SOURCE: TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK |
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