To print: Click here or Select File and then Print from your browser's menu

This story was printed from silicon.com, located at http://www.silicon.com/

Story URL: http://comment.silicon.com/0,39024711,10003872,00.htm

PC Recycling: How green is the Valley?
Time for Silicon Valley to become more eco-friendly...

By Ian Fried writes for News.com

Published: Wednesday 23 April 2003

For decades major US companies have been pushing back the boundaries of computing. The likes of Compaq, Dell, HP and IBM have taken personal computing and the desktop PC into new, ever more impressive realms, but only recently have they stopped to consider the damage they've been doing...

Tightening legislation and a fear being branded environmentally unfriendly has seen many high tech companies, such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell, get more involved in 'end-of-life' issues, such as the recycling of their machines.

And, by examining the recycling process, computer makers are starting to change the way they build their products, making it easier to dispose of the volumes of obsolete systems, and the potentially toxic ingredients they contain, in an environmentally friendly way.

Although many PC makers have a long way to go with their recycling efforts, some of the lessons learned are already showing up in new designs.

For example, HP found that it's no simple task to remove the mercury filament from its older scanners. But doing so is an essential part of the recycling process, since a relatively small amount of mercury could poison a huge batch of recycled gear.

Ted Smith, executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, said: "That [product] was not designed with recycling in mind. It was not even thought about."

As another Earth Day (1 May) rolls around, looming regulations are prompting companies to devote more resources to establishing programs to recycle existing products. Smith's organisation is part of a coalition that wants to see all electronics makers become involved in the disposal of the products they've made and sold. The hope is that by having to take back their own gear, as HP has started doing, electronics makers will be more apt to change the way they design that gear.

Smith said: "The more they become familiar with these end-of-life concerns, the more likely it is they close the loop."

Some changes are easy, like making it simpler to remove the filament from the scanner. But Smith said that the bigger challenge for PC makers is in redesigning their products so they don't use so many toxic compounds to begin with.

Elements such as mercury and lead, and other more complex chemicals, aren't generally considered dangerous when PCs and printers are in use. But environmentalists for years have warned of the potentially toxic effect of those ingredients when the products become scrap and are incinerated or dumped into landfills.

A recent report by Smith's organisation gives US computer makers relatively low marks for removing such materials from their products.

"What we found for the fourth year in a row [is that] it's really the Japanese companies that are ahead," Smith said. Many Japanese manufacturers have goals and timetables for removing lead, found in circuit boards and monitors, and bromine, used as a flame retardant in plastics. "They are being driven, as everyone else is, by European regulations," Smith said.

The Japanese companies see a competitive advantage in staying ahead of the laws, Smith said. NEC, for example, introduced a PC last year that has a completely recyclable case and whose circuit boards are entirely free of lead.

That's not to say the large US tech giants have done nothing on the recycling front. Large companies such as HP, Dell and IBM have been taking back gear from corporate customers for years, but the increasing threat of legislation requiring all products to be taken back has prompted many companies to make end-of-life issues more of a priority.

These days, companies are scrambling to launch new programs and are offering incentives such as coupons to those who recycle their old gear.

Ultimately, regulations could force all electronics makers everywhere to be responsible for the costs of disposing of their obsolete gear. European regulations, in particular, are placing the responsibility on the maker of goods, rather than on the businesses or consumers who use them.

As a result, electronics makers have an incentive to change the way they design products, to lessen their burden in the years to come.

In many cases, that means ending practices such as embedding metal screw fasteners inside plastic cases or blending various types of plastic together. It also means phasing out hazardous materials.

Sometimes it's the little things that add up. For example, HP found that one of the impediments to recycling some of its gear was the multilayered HP logo that's stuck on the products. The company has taken off a few of the slick coatings, with the result being a logo that is more subdued, but also more environmentally friendly.

But HP is also thinking about the big picture - the fact that it is creating millions of PCs and printers that will be obsolete in a few years. Inside its laboratories, the company has working samples of an inkjet printer that features a plastic shell made from corn rather than petroleum.

The shell is designed to be durable enough for its useful life, yet biodegradable with the right combination of sun, soil and moisture once its printing days are over.

The company has no timeline for when such a product might find its way onto the market. When it does come time to recycle such gear, it won't be by putting it in the compost pile with last night's dinner scraps. Such a printer will still need to be sent to a computer recycling centre to separate the shell from other components.

Computer makers certainly seem to do best when environmental goals line up with their economic interests.