Chicago Tribune


Computer throwaways swamping us bit by bit

   By Vincent J. Schodolski
   Tribune Staff Writer
   December 19, 1999

   LOS ANGELES -- Come Christmas morning, millions of Americans will take
   the wrappings off spanking new, faster-than-ever personal computers,
   fancy fax machines, electronic game stations, cell phones and all
   manner of high-tech toys.

   For many people, these will be updated versions of equipment they
   already have, and before Christmas dinner hits the table the old PCs
   and other devices will be unplugged and piled in the corner, more
   fast-forming fossils of the Digital Age.

   This is a major problem in the U.S. Tons and tons of high-tech junk --
   some experts say 75 percent of all the high-tech equipment made in the
   last 10 years -- is piling up in landfills, attics and basements.

   There has been no efficient way to dispose of most old electronic
   equipment, but efforts are under way to capture and recycle old
   computers and other electronic gear.

   Old computer systems are being updated and resold; others are
   dismantled and some of the metals and plastics recycled. Some firms
   have begun to offer simple ways to upgrade older PCs, and others are
   working to develop new technology that is easily updated or taken
   apart and recycled.

   Technical innovation and improvement drives the increasingly rapid
   obsolescence of PCs and other electronic gear. Some experts estimate
   that a new personal computer purchased this Christmas will be
   overtaken by improved technology within 18 months.

   "We are getting better at making machines that last longer and longer,
   but because technology is moving so fast, they become obsolete long
   before they wear out," said Nabil Nasar, director of the National
   Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery at the Rochester
   (N.Y.) Institute of Technology.

   "This is a serious problem," he said. "There are a lot of products not
   only creating a problem with pollution, but you're also taking up lots
   of natural resources."

   Lead is embedded in the glass of computer monitors to protect users
   from harmful radiation. Central processing units, which contain the
   processing chip and disk drives, have traces of toxic chemicals
   including mercury and chromium.

   While some equipment can be donated to schools and charitable
   organizations, technology is advancing so quickly that even non-profit
   organizations are spurning offers of older computers.

   The ripple effect of the digital revolution has washed up in the
   Columbia, S.C., home of Susan Nicolai.

   "My husband lugs home old used computers from the office as they
   update," she said. "My home is becoming a stockpile of hard drives and
   monitors that don't work."

   As Christmas 1999 nears, the Nicolai house has a dozen hard drives,
   seven monitors and scores of peripherals.

   "It all dates back to a Mac (Apple) II that we took out a $6,000 loan
   to buy, which at that time was more than we had invested in either of
   our vehicles. We are moving into a new house in the next few months. I
   really don't know what I'm going to be able to do with the stuff."

   Old computers and other electronic equipment are accumulating in such
   quantities that it is hard to estimate accurately.

   "It is huge," Julie Ann Stewart, a professor at Ohio State University,
   said of the amount of techno-junk. She said it was really impossible
   to come up with a figure because the vast majority of the old
   equipment is sitting in people's homes. She also said huge quantities
   of obsolete electronic gear has piled up in government warehouses.

   According to a National Safety Council estimate made in June, only 11
   percent of the personal computer processors that became obsolete in
   1998 were recycled and, by 2002, about 3.4 million more PCs will
   become obsolete than will be shipped by manufacturers.

   A growing number of companies are buying old computer equipment,
   primarily from businesses that replace technology every year or two,
   and upgrading the gear or refurbishing it and reselling to people and
   companies that do not need the latest thing.

   "The market itself is going to grow because people are becoming more
   aware of the possibilities to refresh older equipment," said Michael
   Ross, an executive vice president of Comdisco Inc., a technical
   services company based in Rosemont, Ill.

   Like other companies around the country, Comdisco takes older
   computers with 133 megahertz and 166 megahertz processing chips,
   installs faster processors and then sells those machines into a
   secondary market.

   While he would not be specific about how much money Comdisco earns on
   selling upgraded machines, Ross said the business adds up to "tens of
   millions" of dollars.

   In January a company called Powerleap Inc. will start selling
   motherboards, the heart of a computer, that can be plugged into older
   computers to bring them up to present standards of processing speed,
   greater memory, larger hard drives and the latest in audio-visual
   performance.

   For less than $400, an old, sluggish antique can become a 500
   megahertz machine with 128 megs of memory.

   But recycling computer parts remains very difficult in part because
   there is no readily available system for scrapping old machines.

   "Taking them apart and re-using the components is hugely complicated
   and expensive," Ohio State's Stewart said.

   Stewart and Nasar are involved in designing high-tech products to make
   them easier to recycle and more environmentally friendly, a field
   referred to as "industrial ecology"

   Nasar said he worked on a project with Xerox that led to what he said
   was the world's first totally recyclable copying machine.

   He said Kodak used careful design when preparing its latest disposable
   camera. Kodak one-use cameras are totally recyclable, with some
   components used as many as nine times before being discarded, Nasar
   said.

   Part of the problem with recycling most modern electronic equipment is
   the nearly universal practice of using components that are practically
   impossible to take apart without damaging the machines.

   As part of her research into new designs, Stewart is looking into a
   retro-technology.

   "I'm thinking a lot about going back to screws," she said.


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