‘Recycle Your Computer Month’ Hits Cleveland

Throughout August, Ohio’s Cuyahoga County is encouraging residents and businesses to recycle their computers, a tradition that began in August 2000 and has since recycled 3,700 tons over nine years.

Recycle Your Computer Month covers every component of the computer, from CPUs and monitors to cables, software and printers/cartridges. It also accepts cell phones, but not other electronic devices, such as televisions and video game consoles.

In 2007, the U.S. EPA estimated that 65.7 million desktop computers, 42.4 million computer monitors and 2.1 million laptop computers were in storage and not being used. Photo: Greenr.ca

Cuyahoga residents can drop-off their computer at a permanent collection location or have it picked up through a curbside service, depending on where they live.

The county includes Cleveland, which was the 33rd largest city in the U.S. as of the 2000 census. According to this same data, Cuyahoga was the most populated county in Ohio.

The components will be scrubbed of any data and then recycled by RET3, an electronics recycling company. The company will refurbish any Pentium III or better computers and donate them to schools or non-profits, with other units taken apart so the base materials can be reprocessed.

In addition to clearing space in the garage, recycling obsolete computers has several environmental benefits:

• Computers have valuable metals such as gold and copper that can be collected and used in other products; the plastic can also be shredded and reused in other electronics.
• These devices contain heavy metals such as cadmium and lead that can pollute the air if computers are landfilled. A CRT monitor can contain up to eight pounds of lead.
• Toner cartridges are made using a gallon of oil each, which can be conserved if the cartridge is re-manufactured.

During last year’s campaign, Cuyahoga recycled 959 tons of equipment, including 581 tons from residents and 378 tons from businesses. This year’s campaign ends August 31.