motherboard disposal

[wildrabbitt]

Hi,

is it bad for the environment to the extent of being something I shouldn't do
to put broken motherboards in the rubbish bin?

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by wildrabbitt

Hi,

is it bad for the environment to the extent of being something I shouldn't do
to put broken motherboards in the rubbish bin?

Yes, in multiple ways. Gold, copper etc can be reclaimed. That reduces the amount of mining and energy required. There are also compounds and elements that you don't want in your drinking water after leaching out of a landfill. (Yes they use membranes to try to control leach and leak. Membranes can fail.) Some electronics qualifies as hazardous waste. Please do not dispose of in the trash, dispose of through a responsible recycler. Some major retailers recycle for free. Depending on the hardware, there may also be charities that want your old gear. (Salvation Army wants your laptop, for example.) There's also the possibility if the gear isn't too old, of getting some cash for it, via sale for parts or repair on eBay. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=electronic...&t=ffnt&ia=web

[wildrabbitt]

Thanks for the reply. I've found a RECYCLING depot in my city which recycles electircal equipment.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by kriesel

Yes, in multiple ways. Gold, copper etc can be reclaimed. That reduces the amount of mining and energy required. There are also compounds and elements that you don't want in your drinking water after leaching out of a landfill. (Yes they use membranes to try to control leach and leak. Membranes can fail.) Some electronics qualifies as hazardous waste. Please do not dispose of in the trash, dispose of through a responsible recycler. Some major retailers recycle for free. Depending on the hardware, there may also be charities that want your old gear. (Salvation Army wants your laptop, for example.) There's also the possibility if the gear isn't too old, of getting some cash for it, via sale for parts or repair on eBay. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=electronic...&t=ffnt&ia=web

Add to that FreeCycle or a local variant. I've acquired and disposed of quite a lot of useful stuff that way.

[Madpoo]

Originally Posted by xilman

Add to that FreeCycle or a local variant. I've acquired and disposed of quite a lot of useful stuff that way.

When the system works, it works great. There are cool videos out there showing how they shred the parts and recover the precious metals, etc.

Far too often though, e-cyclers ship it all off to China or other areas in southeast Asia where it ends up polluting anyway.

In my neck of the woods (US, Pacific Northwest) there was a recycler busted recently for doing that very thing even though he had a contract and promise not to do that. Got busted when they discovered he was taking all this government money and then shipping it all overseas anyway.

https://patch.com/washington/bonneyl...-e-waste-china

In my state (Washington) there's a law that provides for places like Goodwill will take your stuff for free and deliver it to wherever, so that's nice. Other states may actually charge you to take your old crud. Not sure how the rest of the world handles it though.

FreePC and other companies may pick up stuff for a nominal fee... we did that at my last employer and they'd try to get stuff working if possible to gift to charities or whatever, but most of it probably ends up shredded, I'm sure.

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by Madpoo

In my neck of the woods (US, Pacific Northwest) there was a recycler busted recently for doing that very thing even though he had a contract and promise not to do that. Got busted when they discovered he was taking all this government money and then shipping it all overseas anyway.

Yeah, I think they made the 60 MINUTES show.