A recycler used to get 48 cents per pound for CEW (Covered Electronic Waste) in California. I heard it just got lowered by 5 cents to 43 cents. And in September it's going to take another 5 cent hit. Yet, when I read the regulations at CIWMB I don't see this. Strange...
Upon further research.
The 43 cents went into effect July 1, and the 38 cents on September 1. I just found a document that mentions this. The official reason is the huge growth in recycling in California. A challenge is the poundage should be going down, as CRT's (heavy) have in my opinion, almost totally been replaced by flat screens that weigh a lot less. The huge mother load of CEW of course is the home, that has a lot of weight in TV's that are being replaced by plasma's and LCD's that are not light.
The fees are also going to go up slightly starting January 1st, 2009 when you bu new electronics with screens.
Showing posts with label e-waste. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e-waste. Show all posts
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
E-Waste in China, New Study
Recycling That Harms the Environment and People is about a new study of a village in China.
The truth is that most recyclers have no idea where their E-Waste is going to be recycled. They just resell it to the highest bidder. Following and auditing their downstream costs money, and most recyclers don't have the resources or interest for this.
Theoretically China does not allow the importation of E-Waste, but as one article noted a $100 bill on the side of a container gets past that issue. E-Waste such as PCB's are sold to brokers, such as in Hong Kong, that then resell it and somewhere along the line it gets across the border into China. The advantage of hand labor is then the chips on the PCB's can be removed. Automatic methods entail grinding up the PCB's, separating out the metals such as through electrostatic that allows recovery of the metals and plastics. Of course if one of the materials in PCB is outlawed in the US, this will make the recycling situation even more interesting. Some places also buy machinery for show and demonstrations, while still sending materials off shore for recycling for cost savings. And what is the worth of ISO 14001, not much since organizations that have lapsed may continue to claim they have it. Yes Dorothy, the industry is not the cleanest and most ethical around.
The truth is that most recyclers have no idea where their E-Waste is going to be recycled. They just resell it to the highest bidder. Following and auditing their downstream costs money, and most recyclers don't have the resources or interest for this.
Theoretically China does not allow the importation of E-Waste, but as one article noted a $100 bill on the side of a container gets past that issue. E-Waste such as PCB's are sold to brokers, such as in Hong Kong, that then resell it and somewhere along the line it gets across the border into China. The advantage of hand labor is then the chips on the PCB's can be removed. Automatic methods entail grinding up the PCB's, separating out the metals such as through electrostatic that allows recovery of the metals and plastics. Of course if one of the materials in PCB is outlawed in the US, this will make the recycling situation even more interesting. Some places also buy machinery for show and demonstrations, while still sending materials off shore for recycling for cost savings. And what is the worth of ISO 14001, not much since organizations that have lapsed may continue to claim they have it. Yes Dorothy, the industry is not the cleanest and most ethical around.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Used Computer Value
The size/weight of computers has been shrinking. The amount of precious metals (gold) has also been reduced. With the relentless cost reductions that allow a PC to be sold for $349 from Dell and with computers doubling in capacity every two years for the same price, how much is that 5 year old computer worth? Not much.
Ask, who would buy a 5 year old computer when they can get a new one for a little bit more? With the computer size weighing less and less, the amount of scrap value for a PC has been going down. PII Desktop per this article is worth under $50. And how many people want to pay shipping for a used computer, that is more than the computer is worth?
So it sits in a closet, gets donated, or hopefully recycled as it's E-Waste/eWaste. Hopefully, the hard drive in there has been scrubbed so no personal data is passed on. A ball pin hammer is a great way of permanently erasing a hard drive, but it reduces the value of the computer. If an old computer is only worth $50, who can afford to work on it in the US? For business, nobody since just to look at a computer with overhead costs $50. Much less removing a hard drive, wiping it, and then reinstalling a new OS.
Ask, who would buy a 5 year old computer when they can get a new one for a little bit more? With the computer size weighing less and less, the amount of scrap value for a PC has been going down. PII Desktop per this article is worth under $50. And how many people want to pay shipping for a used computer, that is more than the computer is worth?
So it sits in a closet, gets donated, or hopefully recycled as it's E-Waste/eWaste. Hopefully, the hard drive in there has been scrubbed so no personal data is passed on. A ball pin hammer is a great way of permanently erasing a hard drive, but it reduces the value of the computer. If an old computer is only worth $50, who can afford to work on it in the US? For business, nobody since just to look at a computer with overhead costs $50. Much less removing a hard drive, wiping it, and then reinstalling a new OS.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)