Disposing of obsolete computer equipment

Our simple philosophy: If the equipment still works, let's get it into the hands of someone that can use it. If it doesn't work, let's dispose of it properly. -PC Disposal, Inc.

In an industry that turns yesterday’s cutting edge into today’s junk, computer technology brings its users nearly as many problems as it solves. Whether a huge company (think AT&T) or a small business (think your favorite sports’ bar) or a church or a grandma keeping up with her grandchildren – at some point everyone upgrades and has components no longer needed.

The question: How – safely – to get rid of these components?

Not only do obsolete monitors, CPUs, scanners, printers, keyboards, batteries and transformers take up attic and closet space, many have potentially toxic components. And the overarching dilemma for users concerned with being part of a throw-away society is the belief that there may be some worthy but cash-strapped young person or organization that could get more use out of these old clunkers.

In true American entrepreneurship a new industry appears, ready to dispose of the old. PC Disposal, Creative Recyclers based in Palmetto, takes those computers and peripherals, reduces them to usable components, and gets them into the hands of those who can still use them.

For people who grew up believing that thrift is a virtue, it’s hard to toss hardware for which they paid thousands of dollars just in time to see it outdated. But perhaps of more importance, especially to the mega-users, is the potential liability that lives on the hard drives, corporate information that their in-house IT thought he had cleaned by conventional methods.

According to the company’s Web site, PC Disposal takes title to your equipment, thereby absolving you of any responsibility. That is, your equipment becomes their equipment and is no longer your responsibility. Hard drives are sanitized or destroyed and asset tags that may identify the original equipment’s owner are removed. Worthless computer equipment is disposed of in accordance with all Federal and State environmental laws; you get a “Certificate of Disposal.”

These services can cost more than $400 per unit through conventional disposal, according to Richard Golden, company president, who lives in Fayette County. An average computer monitor contains about eight pounds of lead. Lead can also be found on computer circuit boards. The mercury, lithium, and cadmium found in many PC batteries are toxic at high levels. Other toxins, such as PCBs, are used in computer capacitors and are also hazardous.

This expense is usually enough to discourage companies that are willing to pass obsolete equipment down the line to their employees, or even to allow employees to take the old computers home, he said. His company, however, is for profit, and makes its money by reselling reconstructed computers.

A one-day recycling service will be provided at the parking lot of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Peachtree City on Nov. 5, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to Bill Grabill, chairman of the congregation’s environmental stewardship committee. This will be a sort of field test, Grabill said, to see how much interest the service generates. There is no charge for Saturday’s pickup. Future pickups will be based on response to this one.

For more information about PCDisposal, check out their Website, www.pcdisposal.com or call toll-free 1-877-244-0250. Golden’s office number is 770-463-8944. For site information, the church’s office number is 770-487—8717.