Recycling and Disposal Issues

Nothing lasts forever in the computer business. Whether it is a worn out real-time clock battery, an obsolete monitor, or an empty toner cartridge, there's a right way to get rid of it or to recycle it. Generally, the more "durable" a computer- related item is, the more likely it is that it should be recycled when it reaches the end of its useful life, instead of simply being discarded.

Disposal of Batteries

Batteries no longer contain significant amounts of mercury , a highly toxic chemical responsible for the insanity of many real-life "Mad Hatters" in nineteenth-century England, but today's batteries still contain chemicals that should not go into landfills.

Depending on the type of battery that you have replaced , you might find more than one option for disposal of the old ones:

• Some stores have drop-off bins for watch and calculator batteries; the popular 3.0V lithium CR-2032 or equivalent battery used on motherboards to maintain the CMOS and RTC settings could be disposed of this way.

• Contact your local EPA for disposal instructions for Li-Ion, Ni-Cad, or Alkaline batteries found in portable computers.

To prepare for the A+ Certification Exam, you should know which items are suitable for disposal, which should be recycled, and the proper methods for handling each type of item.

How to Recycle Toner and Printer Cartridges

As you learned in Chapter 10, many manufacturers of laser toner and inkjet printer cartridges want you to recycle the empty cartridges; these companies provide postage -paid envelopes or mailing labels to help you return the empty product.

Otherwise, contact local rebuilders of laser toner or inkjet cartridges. Some of these companies might pay you a small fee per each empty toner cartridge.

How to Dispose of Chemical Solvents and Cans

When you use up the contents of a cleaning product container, check the label for container-disposal instructions. Depending on the product, you might

• Be able to recycle the plastic container in household recycling ; this is most often true for citrus-based and other mild cleaners

• Be required to follow toxic material disposal procedures; check with your local EPA office for a "Tox-Away Day" and store your empty containers for safe disposal at that time

If you need additional information about disposing of a particular type of container, check the product's material safety data sheet ( MSDS ) .

To learn more about proper disposal of computer materials, see "How to Read an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)," later in this chapter, for details.

Disposing of Obsolete Monitors and Other Computer Equipment

If you send your obsolete PC, printer, or monitor to a landfill, it will have plenty of company. Millions of old units go there every year; it's legal, but it's also a waste of equipment that could teach somebody something or still be useful to someone. Here are some better ways to deal with obsolete computers and peripherals:

• If possible, try to dispose of your working, cast-off computer equipment by giving it to a school or charity. These organizations might be able to wring an additional year or two of useful life out of the equipment, and are usually grateful for the opportunity.

• To dispose of non-working equipment, see if an electronics trade school is willing to take the equipment for classroom use. Some electronic and computer service facilities will allow you to drop off defective monitors with payment of a small disposal fee.

• Use "computer" and "recycling" in a major search engine such as Google.com to find options for constructive disposal of both working and non-working equipment.

caution

Hard disk drives in castoff machines can be a treasure trove of confidential information for the recipients, even if you format or repartition the drives . Many off-the-shelf data recovery programs such as Norton Unerase, Norton Unformat, Ontrack Easy Data Recovery, and others can pull all kinds of information including credit card, bank, and proprietary company data from an intact hard disk with little difficulty.

Norton WipeInfo and other programs that overwrite data areas of the drive repeatedly are designed to help prevent easy data recovery. However, forensic data-recovery tools intended for use by law-enforcement organizations can be purchased and used by anyone to retrieve data, even if it has been overwritten with Norton or other programs.

For maximum security for your personal or company data, take the hard disks out of any machine you're disposing of and physically destroy them. Open the cover of each hard disk drive and destroy the platters with a hammer .