76 replies to this topic

[Hayden]

jerrymaguire92, on 11 June 2012 - 10:15 PM, said:

Hi, new one here.

Welcome aboard!

[ashmonn]

We skip all of the aforementioned hassles and just donate them to the Goodwill or the local Salvation Army. Provided the computers can be restored, they will be able to find a family that will benefit from these used computers, no matter how old they may be.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Check this out from our Blog section too. Hayden provides us with several links for recycling e-gadgets.
http://www.altenergy...-computers-r375

[irenen1]

Really good information here. Working on a piece for the local paper to try to keep monitors from being chucked off the side of the road.

[DeeNeely]

MakingCents, on 27 November 2011 - 07:47 PM, said:

What scares me the most about this is that they then have your computer.  Not only do you have to find a company that is willing to recycle your computer, you have to find a company that you trust is actually GOING to recycle the computer, not turn around and try to pull your own personal information from it.

Mon-Jes, on 27 November 2011 - 08:48 PM, said:

MakingCents, that's why you take the hard drive out first. Of course, then you have to get the drive itself out of the metal casing and shred the drive, but don't leave your drive in the computer!

omkar1991, on 29 November 2011 - 08:54 AM, said:

Whatever information might be there, it will be there only on the hard disk drive. If you take that out, and send the rest of it, you are completely safe from people trying to glean out your information from your computer. In most cases, you can re use a hard disk in your new computer if it is not already corrupted.

This is not really necessary. You can do the same operation from an Ubuntu CD-ROM used as a live CD instead of an install. Using fdisk will overwrite every spot with 0's and erase any data on the disk. Running it twice will make any data completely unrecoverable.
A detailed explanation of how to do this is at http://helpdeskgeek....-linux-live-cd/

You can also use Disk Wipe, but I like the hands-on Ubuntu method better.

[ACSAPA]

ashmonn, on 25 July 2012 - 12:26 PM, said:

We skip all of the aforementioned hassles and just donate them to the Goodwill or the local Salvation Army. Provided the computers can be restored, they will be able to find a family that will benefit from these used computers, no matter how old they may be.

Now, I feel slightly embarrassed because the computer I'm on right now was bought online from Goodwill of Orange County, CA where someone donated it and then Goodwill wiped the hard drive and installed Windows XP on it. I paid $85 for someone's old Dell computer from the mid 2000's.

Since everyone is talking about donating used computers and their concerns over security,
I just wanted to share that I have one of those used computers from Goodwill and they have a refurbishing center that removes everything personal from the computer and installs a Windows operating system so that a single mom on a budget like me can afford a computer.

[onlinebusinessgal]

There are some computers in our area that will recondition compters if tehy can be saved.  They will use viable parts from those that aren't. This is recycling in a sense.  There are some websites online where you can send in laptops for recycling.  One of the larger cities up here has a day each year where they collect eletronics and they do send them for recycling if they are of materials that can be recycled.

[PMom]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 18 April 2012 - 04:56 AM, said:

You can find more recycling centers for e-gadgets at this site. earth911

Thank you, I was scrolling through the responses to ensure that I didn't repeat the Earth 911 information.

When I lived in California, the local garbage company would have drop off days for unwanted electronics. There was a paper enclosed with the water/garbage bill so you could take your items to the drop-off point.

There was also a local company that assisted schools with fundraisers. They'd accept all old computers and parts and credit the school with the funds.

My third suggestion is the Rotary. My son got a free computer through his school. The local Rotary refurbished older model but perfectly usable computers and then gave them to the local schools for students.

Last but not least, contact small computer shops that do repairs. They may be able to take your old computer and recycle the parts. You might not receive any money for the computer, but on the other hand, you didn't pay anyone to dispose of it.

[E3 wise]

Thanks PMom those are also some great ideas and suggestions, I really like the ideas about getting old computers and electronics to schools and kids in need, where I live now several of the high schools require students to participate in classes on line and it is very hard for low income families to afford the cost, your suggestions goa long way to help that so thank you again.

Also welcome to the forum, feel free to look around and check out the gallaries for some cool pictures also.

[r. zimm]

Fortunately our county has a hazardous waste recycling center for things like paint, computers/copiers, batteries, etc. Luckily it is not far from where I live. I dropped off some paint there about a month ago when I started a painting project and cleared out the old stuff.

[ChanellG]

Walmart has an electronics recycling and trade-in program. Not sure how wide spread it is, or if they take actually computers, but the trade-in program is supposed to earn you an e-gift card. They also have some kind of battery recycling program.

[pureplanetrecycling]

I know this is an old post, but i'm interested to know if there has been any change in people struggling to recycle their computer? I run an electrical waste recycling company in the UK and we have a good system here for all types of electrical waste. Since 2007 we have had legislation that governs what happens to the waste and a waste hierarchy system to control the best way to process the waste. We are obligated to apply the hierarchy to all waste we manage in the following priority;

1. Prevention
2. Preparing for re-use
3. Recycling
4. Recovery
5. Disposal

As for peoples personal data, we, as many other companies do, offer a destruction process that can be witnessed showing the hard drive either wiped using specialist destruction software or crushed for physical destruction. We then recycle the device to recover the raw materials for remanufacturing unless it can be reused.

Having said all this, I understand the geographic issues you may have in the USA being close to a good recycling company. We are based in England and offer a collection service covering a vast amount of the country, but if we were based in America we couldn't do this due to the size of the country. Are you able to ship to a reputable company for correct processing?

Interested in knowing how other countries manage their computer and e-waste, and how confident you are in the process.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

pureplanetrecycling, on 15 June 2013 - 12:51 AM, said:

I know this is an old post, but i'm interested to know if there has been any change in people struggling to recycle their computer? I run an electrical waste recycling company in the UK and we have a good system here for all types of electrical waste. Since 2007 we have had legislation that governs what happens to the waste and a waste hierarchy system to control the best way to process the waste. We are obligated to apply the hierarchy to all waste we manage in the following priority;

1. Prevention
2. Preparing for re-use
3. Recycling
4. Recovery
5. Disposal

As for peoples personal data, we, as many other companies do, offer a destruction process that can be witnessed showing the hard drive either wiped using specialist destruction software or crushed for physical destruction. We then recycle the device to recover the raw materials for remanufacturing unless it can be reused.

Having said all this, I understand the geographic issues you may have in the USA being close to a good recycling company. We are based in England and offer a collection service covering a vast amount of the country, but if we were based in America we couldn't do this due to the size of the country. Are you able to ship to a reputable company for correct processing?

Interested in knowing how other countries manage their computer and e-waste, and how confident you are in the process.

If may be an option for some, either way; welcome aboard.

Here in the US, Goodwill and Dell take old computers for recycling.
http://earth911.com/...nect-recycling/

[Besoeker]

pureplanetrecycling, on 15 June 2013 - 12:51 AM, said:

I know this is an old post, but i'm interested to know if there has been any change in people struggling to recycle their computer? I run an electrical waste recycling company in the UK and we have a good system here for all types of electrical waste. Since 2007 we have had legislation that governs what happens to the waste and a waste hierarchy system to control the best way to process the waste. We are obligated to apply the hierarchy to all waste we manage in the following priority;

1. Prevention
2. Preparing for re-use
3. Recycling
4. Recovery
5. Disposal

As for peoples personal data, we, as many other companies do, offer a destruction process that can be witnessed showing the hard drive either wiped using specialist destruction software or crushed for physical destruction. We then recycle the device to recover the raw materials for remanufacturing unless it can be reused.

Having said all this, I understand the geographic issues you may have in the USA being close to a good recycling company. We are based in England and offer a collection service covering a vast amount of the country, but if we were based in America we couldn't do this due to the size of the country. Are you able to ship to a reputable company for correct processing?

Interested in knowing how other countries manage their computer and e-waste, and how confident you are in the process.

Despite our best efforts and compliance with 14001, the pikies disappear most of our WEEE.

[eds]

We have a recycling center were I live that we separate our waste into different piles and
. . . the people in the center take care of it from there.
We have a pile for:
. . . TV
. . . refrigerators
. . . air conditioners
. . . computers
. . . bicycles
. . . lawn mowers
. . . snow blowers
. . . furniture
. . . metal
. . . DVD (movies)
. . . etc.
some of it goes to the "2nd Chance Store" in the recycle center,
. . . where it is re-sold.
It's amazing what people throw away.  

People here don't seem to worry what left on their hard drives.
. . . They keep most of their personal stuff on a thumb drive and
. . . just unplug it from one computer, and plug it into the next computer.

[conor]

Please have a look on the following link: http://www.digitaltr...r-old-computer/ may be it can be of some help.

[SheforACT]

Some of the trash companies will allow you to dispose of electronic items through the bulky pickups they offer. In my area there is a local company that accept any e-waste materials. If you want to check on them you can visit their site at http://www.actenviro.com/