Recycle your computer

By WONG LI ZA

In a bid to reduce e-waste and pollution, and increase recycling efforts, an international computer company is expanding its PC recycling campaign locally. Although results have been encouraging, the percentage of old computers being recycled in the country is still minimal, writes WONG LI ZA.  THE next time you want to dump your Pentium 3 computer into the garbage bin, think again.  

If the fact that over 90% of the computer can be recycled or reused does not appeal to you, then consider how every kilo of equipment can be converted into cash.  Since Dell Asia Pacific started its computer recycling initiative in Penang in October 2002, 170 tonnes or 15,000 units of computers and computer-related equipment have been collected for recycling. These include desktops, notebooks, keyboards, printers, mouse, scanners and other related peripherals.  

In February 2004, the company partnered with the Penang Municipal Council and the private sector in the recycling project, naming it the Public, Private Partnership Programme (PPP). Under the PPP, the public can dispose of any brand of unwanted personal computers or PCs and related equipment at Sunshine Farlim supermarket in exchange for lucky draw vouchers. “We want to provide an avenue for customers to dispose of their unwanted PCs responsibly, at convenient collection centres and at zero cost,” said Yong Kim Yoong, senior director of engineering with Dell Asia Pacific based in Penang.  

“More importantly, PC recycling is important to minimise e-waste in landfills and prevent water and air pollution. If landfills are not managed properly, harmful material can overflow into rivers, polluting our source of water,” explained Yong, who heads the company’s computer recycling programme. Lead (in cathode ray tubes or CRTs), cadmium (a heavy metal common in notebook batteries) and mercury (found in notebook lamps) are potentially hazardous if not properly disposed of.  

Dismantled computer equipment (above) and Cathode ray tubes (CRTs, pic below) under Dell’s PC recycling programme. Plastic parts can be used to make other plastic products while glass from CRTs can be crushed and mixed with new glass to make new CRTs

“Plastic, when burnt, releases dioxin which is cancerous,” added Yong.  Dell Inc also recently pledged to phase out the use of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and the plastic polyvinyl chlorine (PVC), materials known to be hazardous to the environment, in its products by 2009. This announcement was made on its website.  According to the International Data Corporation, 1.15 million units of computers were purchased in Malaysia last year. Dell only managed to collect 2% of that for recycling. (This is assuming that for every new PC purchased, an old one was discarded.)  

“We estimated that in total, less than 5% was collected in the country. Our motto is no computer should go to waste, so we still have a long way to go,” said Yong.  In 2005, Dell also held PC recycling campaigns in schools and residential associations in Singapore. In January, it expanded the programme to Petaling Jaya.  Under the programme, a 50 sen cash rebate is given for every kilogramme of equipment brought in. So far, five tonnes or 450 units of computers and related equipment have been collected.  

“We extended our programme to PJ because the market here is very big, with a high PC penetration rate,” said Yong, adding that there were plans to hold the programme in other states later.  All computer equipment collected is sent to a main recycling partner who sorts it out either for reuse or recycling. Those that can be salvaged for reuse (in part or whole) are refurbished or repaired before being sold to the second-hand markets. Computer equipment meant for recycling is first dismantled into various parts – CRT, plastic casing, base metal, battery, cables and printed circuit boards (PCBs).  

Recyclable parts are sent to the respective material recyclers, which Yong added, are all approved by the Department of Environment. Materials derived after reprocessing these parts are aluminium, plastic pallets, iron, tin, zinc, lead, copper and nickel. Copper and resin found in PCBs are ground to powder form and mixed with liquid. Copper, which is heavier, sinks and is collected for re-melting and reuse.  

Circuit boards are processed to retrieve metals such as copper, which can be reused

Parts and materials that are not recycled include CRTs, batteries, silica, resin, rubber and tantalum, some which are processed before being discarded as waste to a cemented landfill in Shah Alam.Under Dell’s programme, dismantled CRT pallets are sent to an e-waste treatment plant where they are crushed before being sent to the cemented landfill. “This is because there are no CRT manufacturers in Malaysia,” said Yong.  

Glass from a CRT can actually be recycled. The CRT is first cleaned up before the glass is crushed and then sent to CRT manufacturers. There, old and new glass is mixed together to make new CRTs. The old glass is useful because it already contains lead, which is needed to protect users from harmful radiation exposure. As for batteries, the plastic casings are recycled but not the battery cells as Yong said there are no proper treatment facilities for them in the country. Dell also has a corporate recycling programme called the Asset Recovery Service to help organisations dispose of all brands of unwanted computer equipment. They include servers, monitors, projectors, printers, and storage and networking devices.  

“The functional life of a computer for personal users is five to seven years. For business users, it is as short as two to three years,” said Yong. He said business users could buy up to three thousand units at one go, which meant the same number of old computers needed disposal.  

“First, we help them transfer data to the new PCs. Then, if there is sensitive data in the old PCs, we also destroy it from the hard drives for them,” said Yong, adding that some of the PCs would also be refurbished and then marketed as second hand units.