Recycling Old CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs And Diskettes
The issue of how to best deal with e-waste is one that has taken on increasing prominence in recent years. The rapid pace of technological change has seen computing equipment as well as other types of electronic equipment become obsolete only a few years after their manufacture. Companies are therefore faced with the rather frequent problem of what to do with old computers and their accessories. It has been well documented that doing nothing (and storing) the equipment is problematic as the hidden costs (storage, security, administration) of such as measure can quickly add up. The best policy is to therefore either donate or destroy the old equipment. Donating the equipment – if done properly via a refurbisher – can see that schools and non-profit organizations get some much needed computer equipment. Destroying the equipment – which authorized computer recyclers will do for a fee – will ensure that companies remain in compliance with privacy laws as well as ensuring that none of the toxic substances that can go into the manufacture of computers, end up in landfill with potentially hazardous consequences for the environment. The mechanisms to deal with the chunkier end of e-waste are fairly well set in place. When it comes to items low end items such as diskettes, CDs, CD-ROMS etc the picture isn’t quite as clear. These items can certainly be disposed of alongside the larger items such as computers, monitors, printers if all handed over to an authorized computer recycler or destroyer, but how to deal with these items in isolation is another matter. The first question that really needs to be asked is: “have the disks in question actually been used?” There are some companies who will refurbish unused software disks from manufacturers and other institutions. The unused disks are magnetically erased, reformatted and relabeled. The diskette manufacturers will also typically recycle the shrink wrap box and manual of the outdated software. Only high quality disks are used for software and therefore the remanufactured diskettes also tend to be of high quality. As with any type of recycling, diskette recycling is a good thing as these diskettes would otherwise be landfilled or incinerated. Out of the 4 - 5 billion computer diskettes manufactured each year, as many as 1 – 2 billion of these are used for program software. Many of these diskettes become would be discarded as new software versions or updates are purchased. If we’re talking about diskettes that have already been used however, then that is a different matter. There isn’t the well organized infrastructure in place to recycle diskettes as there is for say glass, plastic bottles and cardboard – but there are some organizations that have specifically set themselves up to recycle computer media. - · Green Disk - will accept diskettes, CDs, CD-ROMs and tapes (at your expense)
- · EcoMedia - accept many formats of magnetic tape (and will also provide UPS shipping labels)
- · Floppies for Kiddies – accept floppy disks only.
Many university campuses have also set up marked receptacles for the recycling of CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs and computer diskettes. The polycarbonate plastic (containing a layer of aluminium) that is the primary component of CDs can be recycled into other plastic products - so the recycling of diskettes is certainly a practice worthwhile pursuing.
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