Islands in the Wastestream

CompuMentor's report is the first-ever analysis of the computer recycling and reuse field. It assesses the opportunities and hurdles currently facing the sector and offers ideas regarding how to develop noncommercial reuse in the United States.

The report analyzes and overturns many common assumptions about computer reuse:

Assumption: Decent tax benefits are available for corporations that donate retired computers.

Wrong! There is virtually no tax benefit under current IRS law combined with standard accounting practices for US businesses to donate fully depreciated computers.

Assumption: Used computers are largely junk and are not useful to schools, nonprofits or in low-income families.

Wrong! The 3-4 year old Pentium III computers that are currently in the donation stream are perfectly suitable to meet the needs of these groups. (The percentage of 'end of life' computers that are eminently full of life will continue to increase.)

Assumption: Whatever its shortfalls, the US leads the world in computer reuse and recycling, and pretty much has tried what can be tried.

Wrong! Canada is way ahead of us! In Canada, Computers for Schools Canada has created an efficient network of noncommercial refurbishers, which supplies 25% of the computers supplied to Canadian schools on a yearly basis. The United States is supplying only 1% or 2% of school need this way. We have yet to create a system whereby it's cheap and easy for U.S. corporations to dispose of computers responsibly. Currently, computer disposal costs in this country are between $85 and $136 per computer and donating computers to charities and schools is one of the costlier options, due to the time and difficulty (i.e. lack of systems for) finding suitable recipients.

Assumption: Recycling retired computers is the best way of dealing with them in an environmentally conscious way.

Wrong! Reusing these computers for another 2-3 years is even better for the environment than recycling them and buying a new one every 3-4 years. Moreover, the U.S. recycles less than 15% of its discarded computers. Most of the rest are stored, dumped overseas or go in to landfills and eventually in to groundwater. It's quite feasible to add a reuse layer to an electronics recycling system such that this equipment at the true end of life is properly reclaimed.