I don't believe this ****

From: Hotze <photze_at_batelco.com.bh>
Date: Tue Jan 6 22:08:48 1998

Yes, actually, there are a couple of companies that do that. (Only recycle
computers) They take PC's or Macs. They're currently mostly only used by
corporate managers trying to find a green way to get rid of their Windows
3.1 machines, but they get paid a little in return. They're trying to
become more home-orginized, but the word needs to get out. They report that
2% of the weight of a 3 year old computer is dust!!!
    As for what happens with landfills, I've heard that studies show that
it's the plastic. (I'd guess that it like forms a bubble covering the
newspapers, etc. blocking out all air, etc.) That would make it
near-perfect preservation, even into tripple or, even quad digit numbers.
Near the bottom, there's more air.
    Tim D. Hotze
-----Original Message-----
From: William Donzelli <william_at_ans.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, January 06, 1998 7:16 PM
Subject: Re: I don't believe this ****


>> > > >>computers been contacted by someone that wants to dispose of your
>> > > >>collection as scrap? Talk about insulting!
>
>Yes, that was completely tactless on their part. Maybe if they collect
>something like Hummels, perhaps you should have offered to grind them up
>to make spackle.
>
>> > You guys know that I agree with your sentiment 100%. That said, I'd
>> > rather see the systems melted down for scrap (assuming it's a
reasonably
>> > efficient and environmentally safe process) than to see them go into a
>> > landfill. I can't imagine how many beautiful systems are rusting away
>> > under 3 million tons of garbage someplace. I don't want to see them
>> > scrapped either, mind you, but given the choice....
>
>I agree here, and for the most part, the majority of computers end up
>being recycled, either in the U.S. or abroad.
>
>I have nothing against the scrappers, other than those that flat out
>refuse to deal with the collectors. It is VERY efficient (something like
>98% by mass get recycled now - CRTs and some photocopier parts are the
>only stumbling blocks), and frankly, one can make a good living at it.
>What one can not make a good living at is refurbishing them - they just
>get devalued too fast.
>
>Lets face it, we can not save it all. True, we should try to get the
>goodies into the collector's hands so they survive. Often in makes more
>sense to try to resell a system than to scrap it (like the TT030). For the
>most part, however, computers (and other electronics) probably should be
>scrapped. For example, one place I deal with in Kansas City (and now
>Chicago) has a roomful of IBM Series/1 minicomputers all humming away.
>Eventually, they will get decommissioned. If I were a scrapper and won the
>bid for them (sometimes the bid just means picking them up!), I would keep
>one for myself, one sripped down for spares, and offer any others to
>members on the list (or the collecting community in general). If those
>latter ones do not move, they would get scrapped. This applies to just
>about anything, PeeCees, VT100s, ES/9000s, C64s, etc. - with the exception
>of the special machines (_old_ machines, prototypes, high demand
>collectables, etc.). Obviously, the day I scrap a S/360 will never come.
>
>William Donzelli
>william_at_ans.net
>
>
Received on Tue Jan 06 1998 - 22:08:48 GMT