Recycles.Org  BETA Nonprofit Materials Exchange Network Computer & Office Electronics Recycling & Reuse

Date: Friday, 18 November 2005

Title: What goes around

Source: http://www.smh.com.au

Remarks: By Lia Timson

Australian public schools are set to benefit from a computer recycling program trialled at a northern beaches school earlier this month, where 10 tonnes of hardware were saved from landfill. The trial took place at Cromer Public School and was organised by Dell Australia as part of a community involvement program (www.dell.com.au). It follows public criticism the company and other computer manufacturers have received for not doing enough for the recycling cause. A similar trial was done in the United States. Dell collected old monitors, CPUs, keyboards, cables, power boards, fax machines, printers and PDAs from home users and small-business owners. The hardware will be dismantled and reused or its components recycled via MRI Australia. MRI Australia state manager Steve Friend says 95 per cent of all equipment collected will be recycled. Plastic will be made into products such as fence posts and pallets by Australian Composite Technologies in Melbourne. Heavy metals will be processed locally and circuit boards - which contain gold and silver - will be exported for extraction and recycling by other countries. Jon Dee, founder of the environment lobby group Planet Ark, would like to see 100 per cent recycling of computer and mobile phone components in Australia. He says while some hardware schemes have not yet been proved sustainable, technological innovations and investment by companies such as the Melbourne-based Close the Loop are ensuring zero wastage of printer cartridges. Industry statistics vary on the number of computers disposed of every year. A report prepared by Planet Ark for the Australian Information Industry Association, estimates between 5 million and 23 million computers are in storage awaiting disposal. The group estimates that about 80 per cent will end up in landfill with components that contain toxic heavy metals posing a serious risk to the environment. Dell's corporate communications manager, Paul McKeon, says it was the efforts of the school's community that brought the higher-than-expected number of donors - 250 carloads. In return, the school will receive a gift of four new Dell PCs. "We thought we'd have 100 cars on the day. We had that by lunchtime," McKeon says. He will now consider turning the trial into a fundraising program with participating schools receiving a percentage of the proceeds paid by the recyclers.