[Yr7-10it] E-waste and Computer Bank

[Roland Gesthuizen]

Thanks Tony, responses below.  :-)

Tony Forster wrote:
> Roland,  While sending computers to a recycler is better than dumping 
> them, the claims to environmental friendliness need to be examined. 
> More importantly, any thought that there is zero environmental impact 
> should be dispelled. Any reduction in material waste streams will come 
> at a high energy penalty. Here is a website extract with further 
> questions by me.
>
> We send monitors to a Government endorsed processing facility
> Endorsed by which government for what? What are the energy inputs and 
> environmental outputs?
>
Nobody wanted old CRT monitors. As most of the old CRT monitors we gave 
ComputerBank were still working, it was indicated that they were going 
to use them for the computers that they were building or reconditioning 
for resale. I think I read somewhere that there have been some trials to 
use the lead glass as an aggregate mix with concrete.  This may be a 
better outcome for broken monitors than  burying the issue. As a rule, 
we should not make more stuff that we cannot later safely trash.

> We send scrap metal (mainly empty cases) to a metal recycler.
> There is a reduction in energy use that may be outweighed by transport 
> fuel increase.
True, except I imagine that transporting them for landfill is going to 
present the same problem. The cheapest way would then be for each of us 
bury it in our backyards or cheaper still, hide it behind the shed. :-)

> We send computer boards, power supplies, floppy drives, CD/DVD drives, 
> CPU's, old and dead hard drives, cables and chips for metal extraction
> I think the facility is overseas, so higher transport energy use, 
> energy in recycling, only the metals recycled?
 From the tour that I had of the setup at ComputerBank in North 
Melbourne, the disassembly is done locally and into different recycling 
streams for local processing in Victoria. It is a difficult balance, 
either you spend energy to recycle to remove a problem or save energy to 
create a problem.  I have read of some horror stories about eWaste that 
has ended up in China. Not good.
      http://current.com/items/76355482_toxic_villages

> We take polystyrene (from packaging that gets sent to us) to a 
> compaction centre where it is eventually turned into picture frames.
> Are they short life frames or a quality product?
>
Good question, staff keep chucking polystyrene into the dump master. I 
like it better when IT stuff ships with special airbags that can be 
quickly popped with a pen or sharp object. I wonder what is the best 
option for packing or even for recycling polystyrene?

> Most of our plastics get turned into long life building products such 
> as fence posts and pellets
> Not quality products. High energy inputs? Emissions to air/water in 
> processing?
Good point. A company that claimed to save schools money by recycling 
toner cartridges was just dumping the washout into the local creek. We 
now participate in a scheme where these cartridges are shipped back to 
source and a PlanetEarth box for stuff that cannot be returned to source.

> Despite our best efforts we have yet to find a solution for some of 
> the waste that is generated (some plastic and lead glass) these end up 
> as landfill once all recoverable material has been removed.
Peter Singer raised some interesting environmental ethical issues that 
are worth exploring such as "What environmental obligations do we need 
to keep for future generations?"

Without leading students down a particular path, this good stuff to 
engage them in the bigger issues outside the IT classroom.

Thanks for the feedback. :-)

Regards Roland