Many devices, notably PCs, do find continued life in the secondary market, but other devices are only disposed of by consumers when they no longer work.
Kermit the Frog summed it up best when he said, “it isn’t easy being green.” For PC users, as well as consumer electronic manufacturers this is mostly certainly true.
At this past January’s annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a panel was even devoted to Keeping CE off the Curb. Moderated by Brian Taylor, editor in chief of Recycling Today, the panel addressed concerns that the CE industry might face with mandatory recycling fees and new programs that are being implemented across the country. While there is a still a long way to go, progress is happening.
It has been nearly a year since Washington State adopted new dangerous waste regulations that impact the sale of and recycling of covered electronic products (CEPs) throughout the state. This regulation includes computers, televisions, computer monitors and laptop computers and should make it easier for small businesses to turn in old equipment. And this is the key; it has to be easier for companies to do more than just “store items on the curb.”
Already many companies are getting on board, with companies such Sony implementing programs to further facilitate efforts for consumers to turn in old products.
The big hurdle with computer and consumer electronic recycling still comes down to the bottom line. It simply costs more to recycle and to recover any usable parts from old devices than it takes to make new products. As long as this is the case it isn’t easy to be green, and it won’t get easier.
The outstanding issues are that all products are not created equal, or worse for the green movement are even recycled equally. Many devices, notably PCs, do find continued life in the secondary market, but other devices are only disposed of by consumers when they no longer work. Printers tend to have a very long lifecycle, and when they’re down they’re don’t – often ending up in landfills.
While HP and other printer makers are making it easy to turn in toner or ink when you purchase refills, a step in the right direction would be to make it easier to turn in used consumer electronics. It’s been done for years with refrigerators. Why not PCs and other office devices?