Problems With Disposing of Computers
- Until recently, third-world countries readily accepted the modern world's discarded computer equipment. These computers were used in schools, homes, or businesses on the other side of the world, where technology hadn't progressed at the same speed. As of 2011, even less-developed countries have begun to refuse computer discards. They may be refused on the grounds that they're full of toxic substances, in less than acceptable condition to be safe for use, or because technology has made in-roads enough to effectively rule these old machines obsolete on the other side of the world, as well.
- In excess 20 million tons of e-waste is generated worldwide annually, and not all parts of the world have a strategy to deal with it, according an article published in Science Daily in September 2009. In many places, computers are simply thrown in the same place as other trash -- landfills and dumps -- where they're free to leach their toxic materials into the surrounding soil and, in turn, the water table and food chain of the people living nearby. In most developed countries, laws are in place which mandate the recycling of computers to keep toxic chemicals away from people.
- While recycling programs are in place around the world, laws to require recycling aren't, leading to the haphazard and hazardous disposal of computers on a regular basis. Even in the United States these laws are left up to the individual states, and not all have gotten on board the recycling train. Many large electronics stores in the United States participate in these programs and offer their customers credit toward an in-store purchase if they return their unused computers, but there are still many computers thrown away instead of properly recycled.
- Much of the electronic waste that makes its way to developing nations is brought there by greedy businessmen. Under the guise of a recycling or repurposing business, companies will collect, transport, and dump old computer equipment in poorer countries where regulation is lax or absent. Paid by modern economies to address the e-waste problem, these nebulous corporations simply move the problem somewhere else. Until there's a concerted effort to curtail this type of trade, and to enforce recycling laws worldwide, our old computers will continue to pose a threat to the global health and environment.
