FAQ

From: William Donzelli <william_at_ans.net>
Date: Wed Dec 10 20:55:52 1997

>In all seriousness - there are a large (and growing) number of so called
>"computer and electronics 'recyclers'" who take usable computers and
>recycle them into "reusable scrap". Small amounts of gold, silver, and
>platinum are extracted and the remainder of the material is generally
>just marketed to less wasteful countries.

I have always had a problem with this part of the FAQ. These people are
our friends, as they often get the real gems. They do not always get the
big stuff - one time I saw a bunch of Tempest rated PCs, and NeXT
equipment, all on the same pile.

The precious metal content of a big mini or mainframe can be quite a lot
(check out <www.mrsscrap.com> and you will see what I mean), so the way
they recycle is all based on ecomomics. Obviously, the gold is stripped
first - it is the cream. The copper is probably next on the list, obtained
by grinding the circuit boards and wires into powder. The rest is not
worth it, literally. It is far too labor intensive to completely strip a
computer down to basic metals - the money made would all go into paying
the grunts! The labor in China is very cheap (actually, the strippers are
young men that work like dogs for 2-3 years to make thier dowry money),
thus the frames, disks, and power supplies get shipped overseas.

William Donzelli
william_at_ans.net
Received on Wed Dec 10 1997 - 20:55:52 GMT