Should You Recycle or Dispose of Your Computer?

By: Robert Thomson Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Should You Recycle or Dispose of Your Computer?

When you dispose of your computer such as putting it out with the trash you contribute to the growing amount of e-waste in landfills. Computers are the biggest part of e-waste. Another problem with that is that toxins and carcinogens can get into the ground water and soil.

In 2007 about 500 million computers became obsolete just in the United States. That's a lot of e-waste. Millions more became obsolete in other countries. When the owners decide to get new computers the majority of them won't be recycled or reused.

There reusable materials in a computer that are lost when you dispose of your computer.
More energy is used to make new computers and more raw materials, less the materials that are recycled. Mining operations that dig the metals used in a new computer ravage the earth, destroying more forest area and that alone is a source of polluting the soil and water.

A lot of the mining done these days is mountain top removal mining. This destroys the tops of mountains in places like West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. The beautiful view and hiking land is ruined. Many streams are covered over too. There water sources and fishing areas are gone.

Recycling uses less energy than making new products and it usually makes less air and water pollution. It also saves landfill space. Recycling also saves money and creates new jobs. It creates more jobs than landfills or incinerators and limits pollution from incinerators. It also limits pollution from incinerators, and is a less expensive way for your city to manage waste.

Recycling just the plastic from your computer can save a good bit of landfill space because about 7% of the waste in a landfill is plastic, tough other plastic products contribute too, and your computer is mostly plastic. One billion pounds of plastic from electronics goes to a landfill each year. Reversely, park benches and fencing at the Honolulu Zoo were made from recycled plastic.

Recycling also prevents global warming. Recycling of waste products prevented the release of 32.9 million metric tons of carbon equivalent in 2000. Remember that disposed of computers are sometimes incinerated.

Recycling protects the habitats of wildlife. Whereas, disposing of your computer contributes to destroying forests, rivers and wetlands that wildlife relies on for life.

These are growing problems in developed countries that can be stopped with recycling. You can send or take your old computer to different types of recyclers. Businesses can be fined for illegally disposing of hazardous waste and they have to pay court costs.