National PC Recycling Plan Proposed, Again 323
ThinSkin writes "Two U.S. Representatives have proposed a bill to resuscitate a national recycling program for electronic waste, following the successful launch of two state-run programs. The bill would create the National Computer Recycling Act, and if approved by Congress and signed into law, would tack on a $10 administrative fee to the sale price of computers and monitors to fund recycling efforts."
Re:Some enterprising young man or woman... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Some enterprising young man or woman... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Some enterprising young man or woman... (Score:5, Informative)
Four problems I can think of off the top of my head:
- Computers are not meltable. Circuit boards don't melt (at least not at any reasonable temperature). So there's going to be a lot of debris.
- Melting computers would require a lot of energy. Weigh the environmental costs of burning a ton of coal vs burrying a dozen computers.
- The resulting pools of liquid wouldn't be very pure. Not if one is relying on gravity to do the separation. To do a better job you'd need to use a centrifuge. Note that many chemicals of different densities like to bond to each other.
- Plastics and other low-temperature volatiles would vapourize before one melted steel. So you'd be venting toxic fumes. That means you'd need a big air-purification system.
Just some thoughts. I'm sure others will think of others. But it's an interesting suggestion.Re:so this means... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What's a computer?... According to the bill... (Score:5, Informative)
Also note:
(3) the term `central processing unit' includes a case and all of its contents, such as the primary printed circuit board and its components, additional printed circuit boards, one or more disc drives, a transformer, interior wire, and a power cord;
And:
(e) ADDITIONAL EXEMPTION- The Administrator may exempt from the requirement of a fee under this section any sale made under a contract or an arrangement that the Administrator determines is likely to result in the maximum reuse of significant components of the computer, monitor, or device, and the disposal of the remaining components--
(1) in an environmentally sound and responsible manner;
(2) without violation of any Federal or State law; and
(3) without reliance on funding from State or local governments,
when the computer, monitor, or device is no longer of use to the end-user.
(f) DESIGNATION OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES- The Administrator may designate additional electronic devices to which the fee under subsection (a) shall apply if those electronic devices--
(1) contain a significant amount of material that, when disposed of, would be hazardous waste; and
(2) include one or more liquid crystal displays, cathode ray tubes, or circuit boards.
So, basically right now, only full systems seem to be called "a computer" (i.e. your standard Dell/HP/Gateway, etc., pizza box/tower). But they reserve the right for parts to later be specified, basically anything with a circuit board or LCD.
Re:What's a computer? (Score:4, Informative)
The $10 levy is just like every other well-intentioned-sounding tax. It will end up being a money grab, the funds from which will never be used for the program's stated purpose.
Re:Some enterprising young man or woman... (Score:5, Informative)
Close, but no cigar. Oil is seperated into different parts by Fractional distillation [wikipedia.org], which evaporates the oil and then condenses it at different temperature levels. In the case of metal, you can't just melt it down and skim off at different levels. It would never settle, due to the heat convection. You'd need to evaporate the metal and condense it, which would take a not insignificant amount of energy.. Nice idea though.
Re:so this means... (Score:4, Informative)
Depends on where you live...
From here [seattle.wa.us]:
freecycle! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Counterproductive (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What's a computer? (Score:5, Informative)
Silicon isn't a problem, and the few grams of it in the chips of a PC aren't much use to anyone. A handful of sand (or a beer bottle) has much more.
It's mostly metals, like lead in CRT monitors, and nasty chemicals in various components that are dangerous. Plastics are the next, like the cases of monitors and printers. Steel cases can be melted down easily enough, but that's neither very valuable nor polluting.
A lot of "recycled" hardware ends up being sent to China. There are villages polluted beyond belief there, where people take components, smash them up, burn off the insulation (creating noxious fumes) to recover copper wire, etc. The poisons are released as smoke or into the ground and rivers.
Alberta, Canada just activated their recycling fee (Score:1, Informative)
It came as quite a surprise to most. [mytelus.com] I received a fax about a week before it became effective and about 2 days before I heard it mentioned on the news.
Electronic Recycling Products and fees [gov.ab.ca]
When it comes to envirenmental issues (Score:1, Informative)
In the netherlands we've had this for years allready. You pay a small extra for a heardryer, a toaster etc... and a bigger one for tv's, washing machines...
Re:What's a computer? (Score:5, Informative)
There have been several news stories about this. For instance Where Computers Go to Die [mindfully.org]
backlit LCD panels contain mercury (Score:2, Informative)
Thus LCD displays should also be recycled or disposed of properly, not just incinerated or buried.