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Techno-Trash:
What should I do with
computer equipment I
don’t use?
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Introduction
CDs, diskettes and other consumables
Computers, screens, printers, scanners
and other larger beasts
Batteries and similar items
Further information
© Barcelona Activa SAU SPM, 1998-2009
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01.
Techno-Trash:
What should I do with the computer equipment I don’t use?
Introduction
One of the strategic planning areas which are most difficult to manage and which, more often
than not, end up being ignored due to the misperception that it is an area exclusive to large
companies, is that of the environment.
“This issue is only important for large companies who produce a lot of waste!”, “This is only a
problem for companies that work with dangerous substances!”. These are a couple of the most
common excuses given to justify company inaction on the matter. However, the generation of a
certain amount of equipment waste which needs to be disposed of carefully, is an inevitable fact
in the life of any company. Among this equipment, that related to computer science and new
technologies is particularly relevant, due both to the growing volume of waste which they
produce as well as the environmental risk entailed by their components.
The obsolescence of computer equipment and mobile phones; indiscriminate use of
consumable goods – particularly those related to storage (diskettes and recordable CDs or flash
memories, etc.); and the never-ending search for the most powerful product in the smallest
possible space, all of these shorten the life span of a set of tools which can be extremely
harmful to the environment, and which require special management when it comes to their
disposal.
These are the arguments behind the creation of European regulations on the matter, which
were transferred to the Spanish legal system by Royal Decree 208/2005, of February 25th.
Article 4 of the Royal Decree specifies that:
01. Users of household1 electrical and electronic appliances must hand them in when they
have no further use for them, so that they can be managed correctly. Handing in must,
as a minimum requirement, be free of charge to the final owner.
02. To this end, when a user acquires a new product, which must be of an equivalent type,
or perform the same function as the appliance being disposed of, he or she can hand in
the old product when buying a new one from the distributor. The distributor must receive
the product temporarily, provided it contains all of its essential components and does not
include other waste which does not belong to the appliance. To this end, manufacturers
and distributors can reach an agreement on the manner and conditions in which the
handing in will take place, as well as those governing the recovery process, carried out in
accordance with that which is stated in section 7.
1
Waste from private household electrical and electronic appliances will be understood as that which is
produced by households and by business, industrial, institutional and other sources that, due to its nature
and quantity, is similar to waste produced by households. Such waste will be considered urban waste,
according to the definition of article 3.b) of Law 10/1998, of April 21st, on Waste.
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03. Local authorities of over 5,000 inhabitants, via council systems, and within their statutory
powers regarding management of urban waste, must ensure the selective recovery of
waste arising from electrical and electronic equipment from households.
04. Manufacturers will establish systems for the selective recovery of waste from electrical
and electronic equipment not produced by private households, so that it can be
transported to authorized treatment centres. Manufacturers will be responsible for the
management of their own waste.
05. By means of voluntary agreements, local authorities within their clusters, will be able to
recover non-household waste arising from electrical and electronic equipment from
private homes, at no cost to users. Recovery will be made separately from other
municipal waste, and in accordance with the manner provided for in the respective
municipal regulations.
Management systems of this type of waste in Barcelona City can be inferred from this
content.
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02.
Techno-Trash:
What should I do with the computer equipment I don’t use?
CDs, diskettes and other consumables
There are two main groups of computer consumables:
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Information storage consumables: Diskettes, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD - in all its variants ZIPS, flash memories, etc.
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Printing consumables: Toners, ink cartridges, etc.
What to do with information storage consumables?
There is no buy-sell market for this type of consumables, once they have been discarded. If they
have been discarded, the reason is that they have stopped working or have already been
burned (in the case of CD-R), and no longer serve any purpose. The only option left, therefore,
is to throw them away. But where can we dispose of them?
The answer is found on the website of Barcelona City Council Waste Disposal Service. They
should be placed in the yellow container, the one for containers
http://w10.bcn.es/APPS/stnbcneta/ca/html/base.jsp?seccion=c_1_4_a.jsp&menu=3&submenu=
0
What to do with printing consumables?
These should be taken to any of the Green Points distributed all over Barcelona city.
http://w10.bcn.es/APPS/stnbcneta/ca/html/base.jsp?seccion=c_2.jsp&menu=3&submenu=1.
However, there also exists a commercial alternative, since the market of ink consumables is one
of the most dynamic in the area of recycling of computer equipment. A search such as this one
which we made on Google in Catalan,
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Reciclatge+de+cartutxos+de+tinta&btnG=Search,
can offer a few references to companies that recycle these types of components.
However, as provided in the law, in addition to these two alternatives, there also exists a third:
the recovery service. Most stores marketing this type of components offer a recovery service.
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03.
Techno-Trash:
What should I do with the computer equipment I don’t use?
Computers, screens, printers, scanners
and other larger beasts
Computers, printers and scanners are home appliances with a short life span. This means that
many individuals and, in particular companies, often have to deal with the problem of how to get
rid of these tools.
Often, they are disposed of within the repair system itself, where technicians repair them in in
order to donate them to schools or public interest organisations. Sometimes they are given to
promotional campaigns that accept old equipment, to be sold on later at a lower price. They can
also be reused, the equipment taken apart, the old pieces replaced, and then painted and
restored in order to meet the standards of a new model. They can also be destroyed, the
reusable parts classified as spare parts, and the rest of the equipment recycled in order to
produce new products. Diskettes or plastic covers, for example, can be produced from pieces of
plastic of a printer. The same thing can be done with mobile phones, whose use is more
widespread and which have a life span which is even shorter than that of computers.
Can I make any money out of it?
As with old cars, there is always the possibility of making money from equipment of this type
that we no longer use or which has reached the end of its life span. Websites such as
Segundamano.es, http://www.segundamano.es/seccion.cfm?categoria_id=51, and the
ubiquitous eBay, http://informatica-pda.shop.ebay.es/Informatica-y-PDAs__W0QQ_sacatZ160,
facilitate the commercialization of these products within the second-hand electrical home
appliances market.
Can I put it to a charitable use?
One socially-conscious way of getting rid of old computer equipment is to donate it to non-profit
foundations, organizations or associations, which can use them in projects of computerization
and the reduction of the digital gap between on line and off line people, mainly in the so-called
third and fourth worlds. The equipment can also be of use to Non-Governmental Organizations
or Associations (NGOs).
A few of the organisations which carry out this work are:
-
Fundación Bip Bip, http://www.fundacionbip-bip.org, which uses computer equipment to
bring ICT closer to people without access to these kinds of resources.
-
Tecnologia per a Tothom (txt) (Technology for everyone), http://www.txt.upc.es, is an
association made up of people linked to the engineering schools of UPC University. It
provides knowledge in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
to groups of people that need it.
-
Centre de Recuperació Informàtica de la Fundació Dr. Trueta,
http://www.trueta.cat/donaMat.htm, which works in humanitarian and environmental
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areas, as well as in the area of occupational therapy for people who are handicapped
due to mental illness.
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NTA, http://www.ntafrica.org, collects computer equipment donated by institutions,
individuals and companies. It assesses the equipment, repairs, assembles, and installs
the necessary software in it, and then sends it to various African countries for use in
teaching or professional projects. It also trains technicians and teachers in the target
country, in accordance with their needs, and monitors the project's progression, with the
aim of learning and improving.
I need to dispose of it, where can I do this?
Finally, if the computer, mobile phone or printer is truly non-functioning, with no hope of ever
being used again, then the only option left is to dispose of it. However, it needs to be disposed
of carefully, since many of the components of this type of equipment contain highly pollutant
materials.
In Barcelona city, they should be taken to one of the Green Points (Punts Verds),
http://w10.bcn.es/APPS/stnbcneta/ca/html/base.jsp?seccion=c_2.jsp&menu=3&submenu=1,
which are mobile or fixed, and are distributed all over the city. To dispose of equipment from
private homes, however, you will need to call the home collection service of household waste,
http://w10.bcn.es/APPS/stnbcneta/ca/html/base.jsp?seccion=c_3.jsp&menu=3&submenu=2.
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04.
Techno-Trash:
What should I do with the computer equipment I don’t use?
Batteries and similar items
Watch batteries, large batteries and those used in mobile phones, video cameras, laptops and
other similar items should not be disposed of alongside other types of waste.
Since 1992, a few Catalan business establishments have been collecting watch and large
batteries, which are then given to the Government of Catalonia, the authority in charge of their
management.
Rechargeable batteries should be taken to the Green Points already mentioned in previous
sections.
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05.
Techno-Trash:
What should I do with the computer equipment I don’t use?
Further information
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http://www.vidasostenible.org/Index.asp - Fundación Vida Sostenible (Sustainable Life
Foundation)
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http://www.arc-cat.net/ca/home.asp - Agència de Residus de Catalunya (Waste Agency
of Catalonia)
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http://www.bcn.es/neta - Website of BCNeta
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http://www.infoambiental.es/inicio - Website offering information on environmental issues
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Written by the Barcelonanetactiva team from the following sources of information:
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“Ordenadores y teléfonos móviles también se reciclan” (PCs and mobile phones can
also be recycled), in Consumer Magazine. January, 2002. Previously available on line
at: http://revista.consumer.es/web/es/20020101/medioambiente/33266.jsp [cited
06/03/2009].
-
”¡Viva la tecnobasura!” (Long live techno trash!) in Muy Interesante Magazine, June
2008 Available on line at: http://www.muyinteresante.es/index.php/todasreportajes/56/3350-iviva-la-tecnobasura [cited 06/03/2009].
-
Leonor Suárez (2002) “Sacar valor de la tecno-basura” in Actualidad Económica of
September 25th 2002.
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Antonio Alonso (2003) “Dale más vida a tu ordenador” in Ideas y Negocios, nº 67.
July/August, 2003.
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Royal Decree 208/2005, of February 25th, on electrical and electronic equipment and
the management of its waste. BOE # 49 of 26/2/2005. Available in pdf format at
http://mediambient.gencat.net/Images/43_53954.pdf [cited 06/03/2009].
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“Una alternativa contra la basura informática” In: Fundación Vida Sostenible: January
2006. Available on line at:
http://www.vidasostenible.org/observatorio/f2_final.asp?idinforme=959
[cited 06/03/2009].
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Diputació de Barcelona (2006): "Residus d'aparells elèctrics i electrònics". SAM, # 14.
June 2006. Available in pdf format at: http://www.diba.es/mediambient/PDF/SAM14.pdf.
[cited 06/03/2009].
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”Situación de la gestión de los residuos eléctricos y electrónicos”: Fundación Vida
Sostenible; July 2008/August 2006<Available on line at:
http://www.vidasostenible.org/observatorio/f2_final.asp?idinforme=680
[cited 06/03/2009].
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Guidelines of 2006/66/CE of the European Parliament and the European Council of
September 6th 2006, regarding batteries and storage batteries and their waste and
according to which guidelines 91/157/CEE. TWELVE # 266 of 26/9/2006 are abolished.
Available on line at: http://mediambient.gencat.net/Images/43_114328.pdf
[cited 06/03/2009].
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Website of Barcelona City Council Environment Department: http://www.bcn.es/neta
© Barcelona Activa SAU SPM, 1998-2009 - Last Update: 15/09/2009
Barcelona Activa SAU SPM will ensure that this information and the data contained in the reports are accurate and
faithful. These reports are published to provide general information. Barcelona Activa SAU SPM will not accept under
any circumstance any responsibility for losses, damages or theft, or for any other business decisions based on data
or pieces of information that can be extracted from this report.
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