Computer Recycling (COMPUTER Case)

CASE NUMBER:   297
CASE MNEMONIC: COMPUTER
CASE NAME:     Computer Recycling

A. IDENTIFICATION

1. The Issue

     This paper will examine computer recycling in the United
States and two other contries (Britain and Canada), showing the
similarities and differences in them.  When a big electronics
company announces a big investment plan, interest usually centers
on what products the company would be manufacturing.  No one would
ask the company what would happen to these products -- personal
computers, fax machines, microwave ovens, televisions -- when they
reach the end of their useful lives.  However, in many highly
industrialized countries, the question is one that electronics
companies are increasingly having to address.  All of the three
countries examined in this paper are handling this issue very
creatively and uniquely.

2. Description

Case of the United States 

     With technology updates occurring in cycles of just a few
months, even the most up-to-date personal computers can be
antiquated within a few years.  In 1995 there were already 26
million personal computers ready for the scrap heap worldwide, and
that could reach 37 million units by 1998.(1) 

     In the U.S, more than ten million old computers end in scrap
piles each year.  The New York Times estimates that in the United
States alone more than 12 million computers are thrown into
landfills annually, adding some 600 million pounds of garbage and
toxic waste to the country's disposal problems.(2)  A recent
Carnegie Mellon University study even estimates that up to 150
million used computers will be piled in the US's landfills by
2005.(3)(4)  

     However, it is possible to recycle computers.  About 30
percent of a personal computer is steel, which fetches about 1.5
cents a pound; 10 percent is aluminum, worth 11 to 23 cents a
pound; and 10 percent is boards and miscellaneous wire, including
1 percent of gold worth about 90 cents a pound.  Thus, effectively
recycled, only about one-half of one percent of an entire computer
system or part actually will actually have to go to landfill. 
Also, about 50 percent of today's personal coputers are plastics,
which can be returned to their original makers for recycling.(5)

     Spurred by the realization, many companies--both old and new--
are trying to make some use of old computers.  R. Frazier Inc., a
multinational computer, electronics and telecommunications
recycling company, for example, is a pioneer in the rapidly growing
computer-recycling industry.  The company, headquartered in Salem,
Va., recycles obsolete computers, monitors and printers by selling
them to businesses in technology-hungry countries, such as
Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, and Costa Ricca, where the cost of
the latest models is out of reach for most companies.(6)

     Another company, Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), the computer
giant, is participating in a program organized by the American
Plastics Council (APC) to reclaim plastics from computer
carcasses.  There, systems are dismembered into disk drives,
microphones and other components, and then used as spare parts or
resold to cost-conscious computer users upgrading from lower levels
of technology.  Materials such as gold, glass, and plastics are
then extracted for sale by the pound.  DEC has in fact turned the
recycling operation into a service business, managing everything
for customers from trade-in credits on old equipment for new
equipment to completely dismantling an old computers into glass,
steel, gold, microchips and other parts for resale to brokers.(7) 

     Americans are also making sure that the lowliest PCs are still
being useful to somebody by distributing them to schools. 
Especially with the Internet, often dumb terminals like them are
all that is necessary for students to explore the virtually-
limitless world of computer.

     The Computer Recycling Center, a non-profit organization in
Mountain View, California, the first of its kind in the United
States, has made it its mission to take in donated computers and
software, reconfigure the equipment when necessary, and
redistribute it to schools.  The computer recycling center is also
working with other partners--non-profit groups in regions
throughout the U.S.--who want to do the same in their 
communities.  "The amount of computer donations and placements has
grown six-fold in the last year," says Steven Wyatt, the computer
recycling center's chief financial officer.  "We now have enough
computers so that we'll be able to put machines in all the schools
around the entire country."  The center, run mostly by volunteers,
was set up partly to tackle some thorny problems of the donation
process.  In the past, often schools felt obliged to accept donated
equipment that was not compatible with their present systems,
creating support headaches for school staff and administrators. 
For donors, searching out places to give the equipment to and
setting up the details of the transaction was frequently a
hassle.(8)

     In addition to delivering fully-functioning computers to the
appropriate schools, the center has also worked to set up low-cost
technical support and computer training programs.  "The program is
allowing us to provide students with computers when it wouldn't
have happened otherwise," says Ray Porter, a computer resource
teacher for the San Francisco public schools.  "School districts
everywhere should recognize that every child needs access to
technology. It's a critical issue for children's development in the
information age."  Most involved believe that the payoffs of 
computer recycling  are big for everyone. The schools get free
computers, society gets less toxic waste, and the corporate donors
get tax write-offs and the knowledge that they're contributing to
the computer literacy of the next generation.(9)

     The Computer Recycling Center has also been supplying a large
quantity of 286-based machines for an even more unconventional
scheme, which could get kids off the streets and onto the
Information Superhighway: the San Francisco police offered them in
exchange for handguns to people who turned in a working handgun,
shotgun or rifle.  At an event on April  22, 1995, in San
Francisco's Bayview District, where there had been many drive-by
shootings, about 135 weapons were turned in.  People who turned in
guns also received three free computer training classes, donated by
the Black Chamber of Commerce.(10)  The plan was intended to be
educational, giving people who might not be able to afford one a
chance to learn about computers.  The scheme is fitting for San
Francisco, which lies near Silicon Valley, one of the biggest
concentrations of high-tech industry on earth.(11)  The computers-
for-guns exchange was developed by police officers, community
leaders and the Computer Recycling Center.  The center donated the
IBM-compatible computers with monitors and keyboards.  While many
cities have offered money, toys, or concert or theater tickets for
guns, this was the first time computers have been offered.(12) 
Local police captain Hettrich said that "Money and concert tickets-
-those things are just fleeting...But a computer,  it goes on for
two, three, five years," adding that the educational opportunity
offered by the computers is "a priceless gift."(13)

Case of Britain (14)

     Until 1995, some six million pieces of electronic junk used to
be dumped in Britain's landfill sites annually, but there were no
obligations on British manufacturers to concern themselves with the
disposal or recycling of electronic scrap.  However, in the recent
years, the demand for computer recycling in Britain has increased
significantly, because the environmental damage will be lessened if
harmful chemicals such as mercury and cadmium are removed before
the residue (which still contains significant amounts of lead) was
dumped.  Other factors behind Britain's recent computer-recycling
efforts are the sheer waste of precious materials--put at around
pounds 50 million a year--and the rising cost of landfill as sites
filled up.

     In 1995, the British government adopted a "Producer
Responsibility" approach, whereby electronics firms, though they
may not actually have to take back old products, are now
responsible for organizing collection and recycling.  There of
course is a cost, and, according to industry group ICER (Industry
Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling), it is the consumer who
is ultimately paying, either through a levy system or manufacturers
simply increasing their prices.  ICER drew up the first stage of a
national plan to recover value from electronic waste.  Public
consultation began with an open meeting in London on 22 November
1994, at which the government's definition of "Producer
Responsibility" was clarified.  ICER has also presented the
government with proposals for a 12-month trial aimed at finding out
precisely how much electronics scrap was present in the UK domestic
waste stream. 

     It is not only the threat of legislation that is forcing
electronics companies to take recycling seriously; environmental
responsibility and the need to be seen to be green are also key
factors.  Not surprisingly, the larger firms are taking the lead. 
In 1991 IBM set up a formal take-back operation in Britain. Five
thousand tonnes of old computer equipment was expected to be
collected in 1994, 85 percent of which either re-used as spares or
recycled.  According to the company, investment in the recycling
operations, which include crushing old PVC keyboards and computer
housings into small plastic pieces and, after processing, using the
recycled plastic to mould new keyboards, is bringing in a modest
return.

     Printed circuit boards and their associated components contain
precious metals such as gold, silver, palladium, platinum, rhodium
and tantalum, all of which can readily be reclaimed.  More mundane
materials like aluminum, copper and plastics also have value, so
long as they are separated and sorted. But there's the rub--
separation and sorting are labor intensive operations.  Computer
maker ICL, which has always taken back old machines, primarily to
protect its brand image, but also to recover valuable spare parts,
now has a three-man team working full-time on breaking down old
computer equipment.  Parts, including printed circuits, connectors,
magnets, fans and plastic enclosures, which previously went
straight to landfill are separated for recycling.  And it's paying
dividends.  Large aluminum disk housings, which in an unseparated
state fetched only 4 pounds/ton, are now generating nearly 700
pounds/ton.  The next step, according to ICL's Tony Adderley, is to
recover individual chips from old printed circuits.  Not all
electronics scrap is so readily recyclable.  Cathode ray tubes
(CRTs), for example, pose a major difficulty.  The phosphor-based
coating used to provide the necessary luminescence contains heavy
metals and other toxins, while the glass itself is loaded with lead
and barium.  Recycling a specific design of CRT with known
constituents is relatively straightforward, but finding a process
that will handle very large quantities of CRTs of varying age and
specification is not so easy.  As a result, something like over
30,000 tonnes a year currently go into UK landfill.

     Working together with two universities and a group of leading
electronics manufacturers, a British waste reclamation company,
Mayer Cohen Industries, is developing a pilot CRT recycling plant
that will use both plant-fibre and micro-organism filtration to
clean up the solution used, in a closed-loop process, to wash off
the phosphor coating.  According to the company's Mark Burstall,
plant-fibre filtration should clean the solution to a parts-per-
million level; digestion by micro-organisms should take the
filtration operation into the parts-per-billion region.   
Applications for the recycled lead-and barium-bearing glass are
currently being investigated.  Initially, processing CRTs through
the pilot plant, which is expected to handle up to 2,000 tonnes in
the first year, will be expensive. "But in three or four years'
time," says Burstall, "we reckon the cost of recycling CRTs will  
fall below the projected cost of landfill."  

     The electronics industry in Britain has a pretty good record
on environmental responsibility.  However, as was the case when it
phased out CFC cleaning from its manufacturing processes, the
legislation was needed to ensure that all electronics
manufacturers, not just the large corporations, would act
responsibly.  

Case of Canada (15) 

     On March 30, 1995, Canada Minister of Education and Training
Dave Cooke announced that surplus provincial government computers
would be sent to where they were needed most: the province's
classrooms.  Sponsored by the Canadian government, this Computers
for Schools Program coordinates the repair and delivery of donated
computers to Canadian elementary and secondary schools for student
use.  Allocation committees functioning at arms-length from the
federal government have been established in all provinces and
territories to ensure the equitable distribution of this surplus
material.  Schools that receive recycled computers are selected on
the basis of government-approved criteria, which recognize the need
to assist disadvantaged communities, native schools and rural and
remote school boards where the need for information technology and
networking is often the greatest.  The program, co-sponsored by
Industry Canada and Public Works/Government Services Canada,
delivered 7,000 computers for schools across Canada in the first
two days of implementation in 1995.

     The program identifies personal computers which, while they no
longer support the advanced software needed in the modern office
environment, can still be effectively used in the classroom.  The
program is supported by all departments of the federal government
who are now donating their surplus computer equipment and software
exclusively to the program. The computer equipment will consist
mainly of DOS-based PC-type units, including central processors,
monitors, keyboards and printers.

      Although the computers being donated are brand new,
they are valuable resources that can help students gain access to
the Ontario Education Highway and to the Internet, as well as
providing opportunities to acquire keyboarding and word processing
skills.  The refurbished computers run software for which the
Ministry of Education and Training has province-wide educational
licences.  There are more than 50 software titles, including
WordPerfect and CorelDraw, available--at no cost--to individual
schools through their local boards of education.

        The Province of Ontario became a full partner in this
national initiative in 1995, and Ontario schools already receive 43
percent of the computers donated nationally, reflecting the
province's share of the Canadian student population.  With active
provincial government participation, Ontario students will receive
even greater benefit from the program.  All computers and printers
donated by Ontario government ministries will be installed in
Ontario elementary and secondary schools, in addition to those
allocated from the national pool of donated machines.  In the
coming years, it is expected that the province will donate
approximately 1000 computers to the program every year.(16)  

3. Related Cases

 GERMAUTO case
 ONTARIO case
 DANISH case
 SEMICON case

   Key Word Clusters
         (1): Trade Product              = COMPUTER
         (2): Geography                  = NAMER and EUROPE       
         (3): Environmental Problem      = RECYCLING

4. Draft Author: Tetsuko Hirai, 2 May 1996 

B. LEGAL Clusters

5. Discourse and Status: AGReement and COMPlete

6. Forum and Scope: USA and UNILATeral

7. Decision Breadth: 1 (USA)
     
8. Legal Standing: LAW

     While in the U.S. the task of recycling computers is currently
rendered to the private sector or the NGOs, the British government
has adopted a law to make electronics firms responsible for
organizing collection and recycling.  In Canada, the government's
action is not exactly a law, but rather a "program," supported by
different organizations, governmental as well as non-governmental. 


C. GEOGRAPHY Clusters
 
9. Geographic Locations

    a. Continental Domain: North America [NAMER]
    b. Geographic Site   : Western
    c. Geographic Impact: USA

10. Sub-National Factors: NO

11. Type of Habitat: Temperate

D. TRADE Clusters

12. Type of Measure: Regulatory Standard [REGSTD]

13. Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: INDirect

14. Relation of Measure to Environmental Impact 
     a. Directly Related to Product: Yes - Computer
     b. Indirectly Related to Product: NO
     c: Not Related to Product: NO
     d. Related to Process: Yes - Waste land
     
15. Trade Product Identification: COMPUTER

16. Economic Data

17. Impact of Measure on Trade Competitiveness: LOW 

18. Industry Sector: Electronic Machinery [EMACH]

19. Exporter and Importer: Many and Many

E. ENVIRONMENT Clusters

20. Environmental Problem Type: Waste, Land [POLL]

21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species
     Name : Many
     Type           : Many
     Diversity      : Many
     IUCN Category  : Many

22. Impact and Effect:  MEDIUM and Structural [STRCT]
     The effective computer recycling will change the structure of
the computer industry as well as that of growing computer-recycling
industry.

23. Urgency and Lifetime: LOW and 100s of years

24: Substitutes: Recycling

VI. OTHER Factors

25. Culture: NO

26. Human Rights: NO

27. Trans-Border: NO

28. Relevant Literature

Buckley, David. "Ecology: Second Time Around; David Buckley looks
at the progress being made in re-using electronic components." The
Guardian 10 November 1994: The Guardian Online Page, 9.

"Computer Recycling Company Recognized for Innovation, Creativity."
PR Newswire 14 March 1996: Financial News.

Dougherty, Jay. "Good for Businesses, Good for Schools." Deutsche
Presse-Agentur BC Cycle. 6 April 1995: International News section.

"From Scrap to Big Mac: Environmentally Friendly Computers."
Electronics  Weekly 26 May 1993.

"Ontario Government Donates Used Computers For Use in Elementary
and Secondary Schools." Canada NewsWire 30 March 1995: Domestic
News.

Schofield, Jack. "Microfile." The Guardian 27 April 1995: The
Guardian  Online Page, 7.

"San Francisco Police Offer Computers For Guns." Reuters BC Cycle.
22 April 1995.

"San Francisco Trades Computers for Guns." Reuters BC Cycle. 21  
April 1995. 

"USA: From Scrap to Big Mac--Environmentally Friendly Computers."
Electronics Weekly 26 May 1993.

Valigra, Lori. "Digital Turns techno-Trash into Treasure." Reuter 
European Business Report 4 January 1996.


                            ENDNOTES

(1) Valigra, Lori. "Digital Turns techno-Trash into Treasure."
Reuter  European Business Report 4 January 1996.

(2) Dougherty, Jay. "Good for Businesses, Good for Schools."
Deutsche  Presse-Agentur BC Cycle. 6 April 1995: International 
News section.

(3) "From Scrap to Big Mac: Environmentally Friendly Computers."
Electronics Weekly 26 May 1993.

(4) Schofield, Jack. "Microfile." The Guardian 27 April 1995: The
Guardian Online Page, 7.

(5) Valigra.

(6) "Computer Recycling Company Recognized for Innovation,
Creativity."  PR Newswire 14 March 1996: Financial News.

(7) "USA: From Scrap to Big Mac--Environmentally Friendly
Computers."  Electronics Weekly 26 May 1993.; Valigra. 

(8) Dougherty. 

(9) Ibid.
(10) "San Francisco Police Offer Computers For Guns." Reuters BC
Cycle. 22 April 1995.

(11) "San Francisco Trades Computers for Guns." Reuters BC Cycle.
21 April 1995. 

(12) "San Francisco Police Offer Computers For Guns." 

(13) "San Francisco Trades Computers for Guns." 

(14) Buckley, David. "Ecology: Second Time Around; David Buckley
looks at the progress being made in re-using electronic
components." The Guardian 10 November 1994: The Guardian Online
Page, 9.

(15) "Ontario Government Donates Used Computers For Use in
Elementary  and Secondary Schools." Canada NewsWire 30 March 1995:
Domestic News.

(16) In Ontario, its Regional Advisory Committee reviews
applications from school boards to decide where the donated
equipment will go.  The Advisory Committee is comprised of
volunteers from the Ministry of Education and Training, the
Canadian Association of Principals, the Ontario Teachers'
Federation, the Ontario Federation of Home and School
Associations, The Ontario Public Schools Boards' Association,
Industry Canada, and the Telephone Pioneers of America.  The
Telephone Pioneers of America is a volunteer organization of
retired and active employees of the telecommunications industry,
and its members donate their time to inspect, refurbish and
distribute computers to school boards.  Private companies have also
supported the program through the donation of hardware and
software, and transportation of the computers to workshops for
refurbishing, and from there to school boards.  Members of the
telecommunications industry, including Bell Canada and Northern
Telecom, have provided technical support and expertise to the
program.