What is the entire process of recycling computers (safely)?
Start to finish, what happens to every single component of the computer, what is melted down, what is reused, how the recyclnig company wipes the hard drive, etc. Thanks!
Related computer recycling
Related posts:
- computer help?
- How do I remove a system volume folder and recycler folder from my external hard drive?
- Huge computer problem (I think its recycler.exe)?
- how many Chinese workers die during the process of recycling e-waste?
- Is RECYCLER\S-8-6-85-1000021629-100006504-10030025-5385.com reminants of a virus?
This is a difficult question to completely answer because e-scrap recycling is still in it’s "infancy" compared to other types and is constantly being improved technologically.
For the most part the e-scrap recycling process follows the path outlined below:
The equipment comes in and is visually tested. Those items that have potential resale value are sent to those individuals who are responsible for testing. If the item tests positive, it gets bulked with similar items. Most of the good, usable items are bulked and sold on the secondary market as "used" items.
If the material doesn’t pass the first test, then it goes to the de-manufacturing area. Items in this area are stripped down to the component level. The processors, memory chips, components (such as fans, heat sinks, connectors, etc.) are all bulked together and also sold on the secondary market. The metal casings tend to be sold to local scrap dealers. The circuit boards are consolidated together for shipment to a smelter. At the smelter, these are melted down and separated into their component materials such as silica, gold, platimun, titanium, etc. These are sold as scrap materials on the secondary market.
The major components of the e-scrap stream that can get slightly problematic are the glass (from the monitors) and the plastics. These materials are voluminous and have limited marketability. The lead glass goes to a smelter where the lead is removed from the glass and the two steams are marketed separately. With the institution of HD tv and the shift to flat-screen technology, there is a LOT of leaded glass hitting the market.
The plastics present a similar issue because many of the e-scrap components (printers, scanners, keyboards, etc.) are manufactured from a significant amount of plastic. This material is recoverable. One of the main issues with plastic is that there are so many different chemical structures that, when mixed, they can be incompatible and therefore present an issue to recyclers. This is one issue that has been changing over the years. The amount of materials being used to create e-scrap has been reduced making the recycling of the various components easier to do.
With regard to the hard-drives there are two ways that they are processed: one way is to completely strip them of all data and overwrite the hard-drive so it’s completely blank. This is the process that is used on new technology where resale exists. The second method of processing includes drilling a whole through the hard-drive so that all of the discs inside are damaged (making it completely unreadable) and then recycling it with the scrap metal portion of the e-scrap waste stream.
I hope this is helpful!
Thanks,
Adam