Sunday afternoon, after finishing my weekend errands, I usually head over to one of my stores and do the least of the fun jobs: cleaning. Sunday afternoons are reserved for clearing out the boxes and packaging materials that don’t get recycled with the other electronics.
Today, during my normal cleaning cycle, I stopped and thought about all the failed electronics we remove from systems and replace with new. I looked at the heaps of broken components that simply get discarded and thought it would be a good subject for this week’s article. It’s something we don’t normally think about; but, it is something that’s important with many devices being disposable.
Most of the components inside a computer or other consumer electronic device contain materials which cannot be simply disposed. CRT monitors and older tube televisions contain a substantial amount of mercury and lead which cannot be thrown out. Circuit boards contain a combination of chemicals called brominated flame retardants which do not decompose.
Recycling centers have opened throughout the country because there’s value in waste. My business has people lined up to remove scrap and recycle the components. Typical electronics that get discarded and recycled at my shop include computer motherboards, processors, memory, and sometimes the whole computer.
When a computer is received at a recycling center it is typically stripped into various components based on salvageable materials. By weight, the highest percentage of recyclable material is steel. Also, there is a fair amount of copper and aluminum which gets separated based on quality and cleanliness. Finally, motherboards, processors and memory contain a small amount of gold.
Throughout my current career and my previous life as an industrial salesperson I have been inside many recycling centers. Larger scale operations truly separate to the component level and sell the reusable scrap as used equipment. Older equipment is separated by material and sold by weight. Specialized machinery is used to open the gadgets and remove the components.
Recyclers’ money is made by selling the individual components to other companies that pay scrap prices. Some of you reading this are going to get excited at the thought of saving tons of circuit boards with the hope of getting rich from gold. Before you tear your computer apart, it’s important to understand it takes hundreds of pounds of circuit boards to get one ounce of gold.
A typical computer is worth between $5.00 and $10.00 to a recycler. Laptops are worth less because there’s very little steel and more plastic and cast metals. Tablets and cell phones are worth very little because they’re mostly plastic and hazardous materials. Some time ago I read a statistic that said it costs more to recycle a cell phone or tablet than the parts are worth.
Finding places to accept items can be frustrating because most businesses do not want the hassle of recycling. Businesses typically want to sell new items and don’t have a relationship with recycling centers. Larger box stores may take older items in exchange for purchasing a replacement. Usually it’s not worth a recycler’s hassle to make a special trip unless there’s a stockpile of goods.
Finding places to accept televisions and CRT monitors is the most difficult. I normally don’t mention businesses in my column; however, Best Buy will accept up to three CRT monitors per person. My business will recycle used computers and laptops for a charge of $0.25 per machine. Otherwise, commercial recycling centers will take odd electronics and usually charge by weight. Discarded electronics should never be mixed with regular household waste.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him directly at (978) 919-8059) or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.