Can the beige box ever be a green box?

When the time comes to scrap your PC, whose responsibility is it to dispose of it safely?

Why not dump it in a skip? At least then the buck is passed to the local council or contractor who collects the skip. But can you trust them not to dump it in a landfill site? Do you even care if they do?

The built-in obsolescence of PCs and peripherals means we're currently on the verge of ecological crisis and the companies behind it all are being forced to act.

But is crisis too strong a word? Estimates suggest that by 2004 there may be more than 300 million obsolete machines in the US alone - and at least 70 million of those are destined to end up in landfill sites.

Last year 24 million machines became obsolete in the US, a country which is both a major consumer and a major producer of PCs. Of these 24 million only 3.3 million were recycled.

The replacement cycles of big business may have been incidentally slowed by the downturn - much to the chagrin of manufacturers - but the number of PCs finding their way into the waste cycle is still alarming.

To their credit, a number of manufacturers are now looking at ways of making PCs out of biodegradable materials in an attempt to stem part of the problem at the source.

But probably the most important issue in terms of recycling is the 'making safe' of the toxic elements which exist in modern technology. For starters, the average PC contains traces of lead, cadmium and mercury.

Increasingly it seems companies are having to consider the headache of 'counting them out, and counting them back in again'. Legislation is likely to require manufacturers to ensure any potentially harmful products shipped out from their fabs are recovered post-obsolescence.

In the simplest terms you will rent your machines from the manufacturer. But who will be responsible for ensuring this agreement is honoured. For all the enforced responsibility placed upon the manufacturers can consumers be relied upon to play their part.

Too many people find it difficult to return a library book or a Blockbusters video. How many will really ensure their PC gets returned?

Who should be responsible for disposing of your PC? You, the manufacturer, the council, the government, the store you bought it from? Send you opinions to editorial@silicon.com