Dell Launches Free PC Recycling 110
digihome writes to mention the implementation of a free PC recycling service for all systems sold by the company. From the article: "The no-charge home pickup program was announced in June. Dell already offers similar programs in Europe and Canada. After enduring tough criticism over the years from environmental groups, tech companies have started offering more ways for consumers to properly dispose of computer gadgets and to conserve electricity while using computer gear. Among tech companies, environmental advocacy group Greenpeace has singled out Dell and mobile-phone maker Nokia for their ecologically conscientious policies."
Recycle... (Score:2, Insightful)
-r
Re:Recycle... (Score:5, Funny)
Good point. And while they're at it, I have an old futon that the cat pissed on that I've been looking to dump, so maybe they can take that too.
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It's like those stupid car dealerships offering to make the last 3 payments on a competitor's lease, so they can get you into one of their cars faster.
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Re:Recycle... (Score:5, Insightful)
If anything the big names should all pitch in and form a collaborative group.
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My favorite is those billboard trucks driving around. I know it takes energy to put up a static billboard, but something about driving around burning gas and increasing traffic just to wave a sign sickens me.
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Actually, in a lot of places, companies turn to billboard trucks because the local zoning laws in some way prevent them from advertising their business. One community near me had a controversy recently: a store owner wanted a bigger sign than the (unusually restrictive) zoning laws there allowed, and so he bought a billboard truck and parked it (legally) on the street in front of his business. They wanted to pass an ordinance forbidding billboard trucks from the municipa
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If anything the big names should all pitch in and form a collaborative group."
Agreed. Before curbside recycling was common, there were places in my town where everyone took all the cans, bottles, and batteries for recycling. We still have something similar for oil, paint, and other nasty stuff. Why not do something similar for computers-just let everyone drop them off at
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The purpose of the "pickup/mail-in nonsense" is to make it easier for people to turn their old stuff in instead of just toss it in the garbage (which whould be bad given the amount of crap in a random computer). People are lazy and don't care, so this is a way to try and deal with that problem.
Let's just hope the "recyclin
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joke for the lobotomised (Score:2)
Re:Recycle... (Score:5, Informative)
They will, as part of a new purchase. That was their old recycling program, and it's still in effect. The new program adds recycling of Dell products at any time.
You have to have *something* to do with Dell before they'll ship your junk for free.
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My Wife's computer came with a Dell Printer. The printer came with a return pre-paid shipping label in the box so I could "recycle" my old printer. I set up the new printer, installed the cartridges and connected it. I found the cartridges were about 1/4 the size of the old printer but cost the same. I could not get cartridges at a local store so they had to be directly ordered from Dell + shipping and handeling
Yes Sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie... (Score:2)
So we'll sing it again [slashdot.org] the next time it comes 'round on the guitar.
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And most of them would be too young to know what a movement is...
This is fantastic news. (Score:2, Interesting)
Metal, after oil, is our least renewable resource. Given that computers use more metal than any other consumer product it makes economic sense (or is that cents!) to reclaim it.
Another useful component is the rare-earth magnets that are in hard drives. Those are pricey and certainly outlast the drives they come in.
Size matters (Score:3)
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It depends which metal you're talking about... Most elements are metals, and they're more or less abundant ("renewable")
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Metal, however, DOESN'T GO ANYWHERE. It can be lost to rust, but that's only a small percentage over a long period of time. 500 years from now, we can mine our junkyards, and get practically all of it back for future use.
Oil, OTOH, is burned, and turned into a completely useless form, that won't turn back into oil for millions of years.
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Can we?
Maybe they will have invented some amazing process which can sort out the rare but extremely useful metals like copper and tungsten which are probably going to be in extremely high demand but are likely to be distributed in extremely minute quantities all around the earth by our extremely naive civilisation.
Most electronics these days end up in massive municipal landfills, trying to mine them would be l
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Yes.
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Surely we must be able to eventually reach the stage where nanobots could 'disassemble and sort' landfill sites into individual elements for re-use. Maybe not today, maybe not in 20 years, but certainly before we run out of useful trace metals.
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Flying cars - probably not, but could be used to improve efficiency by ensuring proper chemical composition of fuels etc. Meal in pill form - ain't gonna happen because the human body (currently) needs actual substance to fee
mining junkyards is a fallacy (Score:2)
Elemental metals like aluminum exist all around us (even in our bodies), but are mined from concentrated deposits so that less material will need to be seperated from the desired metal by electrolysis, metling, etc. The energy conservation of recycling aluminum vs. harvesting ore and processing it is approxim
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All of which I know.
Only true if:
You
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You're assuming current technology won't advanced before we need to get that metal back.
The deal is, as technology improves at sifting metal out of non-metal materials, mining companies will return to work mines that have 'petered out.' That is, places where these metals had been mined, but operations ceased when the
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No fusion necessary. I was referring to: http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09
Re:This is fantastic news. (Score:5, Insightful)
You literally pulled this out of your ass, didn't you?
For a while now, we've had these things called "automobiles". They are generally made up of metals of various sorts. They also weigh 1-2 tons a piece. Unless you're referring to all those consumer grade ENIACs you see everywhere, I'm not sure how you think computers consume the most metal of any consumer product.
Monty Python (Score:1)
> For a while now, we've had these things called "automobiles".
The only consumer product to contain more metal than computer is automobiles. And washing machines. TWO. There are TWO consumer products that contain more metal than computers
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However the difference between these devices and a computer is the types of metal. If we ever get in a scramble for gold, titanium, tantalum, etc. - a store of computers in a concentrated area might be the most cost effective way to get them. Not yet though. Check out an issue of FastCompany about 3 months ago, there is a company trying to streamline the process of harvesting tech landfills for various s
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My grills! (Score:1)
flops...
Nah, I got nothin'. I can't get a good rhyme for metal.
At least I tried.
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For non-Dells (Score:4, Informative)
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Does it need to be said? (Score:5, Informative)
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http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/Hughes/SecureErase.html [ucsd.edu]
This is suitable for military sanitize up to secret level.
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Remove hard drive first, nuke it yourself. Only way to be sure.
Only way to make sure that nobody could recover your porn or find out that your mail account's password is "password" even by opening your hard drive and looking for data with a gauss-meter or something of this kind?
Unless you got state secrets on your hard drive and that somebody out there might know it, writing a bunch of 0's once on your hard drive will keep anything you could have on your hard drive safe.
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How would I go about obtaining a nuke? Should I start collecting smoke detectors?
I've got a bunch of old hard drives that need the data wiped. Wouldn't it just be simpler to hold it up to a rare-earth magnet [forcefieldmagnets.com]? Would I have to take the cover off?
Just wondering...
Recyling PC's (Score:2, Interesting)
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I once found a dual PIII Xeon server on the street, with 4gb RAM and 8 10,000 RPM 12gb SCSI drives (wiped, of course). Three 22" ViewSonic flat screen CRTs. A working professional-quality scanner. It is positively ludicrous what New Yorkers throw out.
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"Yes officer, that computer was out on the street, just behind that shattered glass window..."
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Amen Brother! I sometimes wish I had my car with me as I walk past HP laser printers. Sure, probably some can't be repaired, but I know some people who chuck them when they get a message "Replace Drum Kit."
"Me - you are so right. This HP laser printer is a goner. I'll just "recycle it" for you!"
Ummm im gonna need that stuff back. (Score:1)
I got hit by a damn taxi waiting for my brother to come by with his truck.
Re:Recyling PC's (Score:5, Informative)
The NYC Department of Sanitation has coordinated with private companies and nonprofit organizations to offer electronics recycling events to New York City residents.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/recycli
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A step in the right direction... (Score:1)
That allows people to move away from their Dell product without penalizing the environment for it. Now, it would be great if they offered to pick up non-Dell computers too when you make a purhase and want to get rid of the old stuff. Hopefully more companies will take initiative in this.
Justin
http://hatchedeggs.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
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It is free on most home systems and $10 up to $40 option with some business systems.
I just used my $40 tag from a server to pack 2 computers, a 14" crt and a ton of old ISA cards all in the Poweredge box.
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They do. It's part of the old program that has been around a few years. You can still do that. This just adds free recycling of Dell computers with no purchase necessary.
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I'd take them too... (Score:4, Funny)
"Computer for sale: PII 500MHz - doesn't boot. Buy it Now $25!"
Tell me you can't sell that.
Where, where? (Score:5, Funny)
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They're actually really cheap these days and a great way to flaunt your geek status.
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Tell me you can't sell that.
Actually you could sell the PSU alone for that price. I once sold a dead 400W ATX PSU for 20
Is it just lip-service? (Score:5, Informative)
*Most* "recycled" electronics in the US end up in trash heaps in China to be picked through by poor people. Gleaned for valuable metals. In these open-air dumps there are no controls on leaching metals into the soil, etc.
There are plenty of more responsible efforts throughout the country some of which are listed here:
http://freegeek.org/recycle.php [freegeek.org]
Does Dell *really* recycle or just dump the stuff someplace that pays them by the ton? And don't be mislead by Greenpeaces' approval. They score based on production toxicity not recycling cleanliness. Granted Dell's doing "something", but my point is we don't actually know where the boxes end up. TFA didn't say.
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See the links below for info on what often happens with reclaimed electronics
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,57151-0.htm l [wired.com]
and
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/ 11/0615220 [slashdot.org]
and
http://www.ban.org/ [ban.org]
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Sure, poor people are picking the stuff over, but the problem is people being poor, not that they are picking over thi
Recycling (Score:2)
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The one I donated this year was a 120 mhz laptop that went to a relative that is using it at college.
It all comes down to finding the right home for each machine.
Recycle What? (Score:2)
In California, we pay an extra $8 when we purchase a monitor (or laptop) to the state for future landfill services. Then when we dump a CRT monitor it's a $20 fee (not sure about laptops or desktops).
"free" my arse.. (Score:2)
I remember seeing shows on it in the late 90's.. the average high end CE device (e.g. computer) can be melted down to produce several grams of gold and several oz of silver.
This of course ignores the huge amount of silicon, plastics, and of course aluminum (aluminum is far cheaper to recycle than to smelt as the only known process involves VAST amounts of electricity) which makes up the rest
this used to be true (Score:2)
back then pentium 1 and pre-pentium 1 boards and cpus had a much higher gold content, but afterwards manufacturers cut back drastically on their use of valuable metals to cut costs.
these days, when most of what a recycler gets is p2 and p3-era machines, and busted monitors (not worth much of anything), they are not as valuable component-wise.
so no, most recyclers do not "churn a
How many PC's actually get recycled anyway (Score:2)
Buy the PC from Gateway and get the latest and greatest
This Machine is the primary PC for me for the next 18 months.
After that it becomes the secondary PC. It is moved to the guest room.
After a year and a half there it is moved to the garage where it runs MAME in my arcade cabinent.
After a while in the garage it is given to my daughter or my mother where they use it for another two years as their primary PC. After that it goes on the trading post and is sold to
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if near silicon valley, please consider.. (Score:4, Informative)
we are a non-profit california state-certified e-waste collector (one of the few that are state certified), and will give you a 501 c(3) tax-deductible receipt for all electronics that you give us, as well.
help the environment and help your pocketbook, too
see us at www.elmars.org for more info.
thanks!
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1) Do you simply recondition the equipment and donate it to others, or do you physically break down non-working equipment in an environmentally friendly manner?
2) Is all demanufacturing done locally? Or is some/all of it sent overseas?
Please take these as just curious questions, and in no way a negative light.
-b
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working hardware or hardware that we can fix up easily (put a new hard drive in, etc) gets either donated or sold to fund our existing operations.
non-working and obsolete stuff gets seperated into components (plastics, steel (cases), circuit boards, wires, etc).
we work with local refineries that will melt down boards and metals, everything is done locally, not overseas.
The swiss situation (Score:1)
For a few years now, whenever you buy a piece of electronics you have to pay a mandatory recycling tax, which the store gives back to a government managed recycling fund. The amount depends on the type of equipment.
Next, every electronics store is required by law to accept any piece of equipment for recycling. You can basically bring your old gear to any store for recycling for free, whether you bought it the
Already in place in several Cities (& Californ (Score:2)
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/computer_r ecycl.php [treehugger.com]
I've helped to puchase several Dells in the last few years. They have always offered to recycle my old computer for free, regardless of the brand.
They send a shipping label along with the new computer, and you ship it back to them in the same delivery box. Easy as pie, and I'm assuming they have facilities to deal with the extra styrofoam.
This is in California, so perhaps we had this system in place
Also offering free laptop incineration... (Score:3, Funny)
Greenpeace after Apple, too (Score:2)
Greens on target, yet again... (Score:4, Informative)
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There are a lot of people with one tv and lots of computers. We have a 20 inch tv and a 12 inch TV/VCR combo unit for travel. My wife and I have both a laptop and desktop. I have 2 PC's set up for the kids.
Let's face it. The stuff on most TV has degenerated to the lowest common denominator of sex, violence, and commercials. When we moved last year, I didn't even bother to put up an antenna. TV is for videos. Due to advances in technology, Comput
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If it raises the prices of these products, good - it will more accurately reflect the true cost of the product up fron
Freecycle too! (Score:2)
I saw mentions of Freegeek so I thought I'd mention Freecycle too. If you don't own a Dell computer (or even if you do) you might want to consider it. I've never participated, but my mother is absolutely fanatical about it. She's given and picked up tons of stuff from participants.
The Freecycle Network [freecycle.org]Re: (Score:1)
Baahhh Recycle just keep using it. (Score:1)
What do some people do throw em out when they get dirty ?
This "offer" is THE LAW in Europe. (Score:1)
The kind "offer" of Dell's is actually required by law in Europe, and has been since August 2005. The WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) legislation came into effect prior to RoHS. One part of this Directive is that any product containing any of six banned substances (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphen
The curb is also free (Score:2)
Recycle? NOT - destroy, i.e. remove used market (Score:1)
This is marketing doublespeak. What they are doing is removing the reused-computer, the used market.
They grind the machine, recycle only the plastic and copper. As an LTSP or Citrix terminal or older word-processing box, it could be used for a long time - 100% recycled.
I live in Brazil nowadays, and people _still_ pay US$200 for a used pentium 3 in used-pc stores - monitor not included.
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Clarification from Dell (Score:1)