Old computers increasingly find new life

In an industrial office complex outside of Boston, used computers, servers, monitors and printers are put to rest. Some will become technology organ donors, their parts removed for use in machines that are deemed salvageable. Components and parts might wind up being shipped to recycling centers in Tennessee or California, where their bits of gold, silver and copper will be removed and their steel sold for use as construction materials.

The Technology Renewal Center in Andover, Mass. is operated by Hewlett-Packard Financial Services (HP), and is where damaged and outdated equipment that had been leased to customers is sent for repair, rehabilitation or recycling in a process replicated by vendors throughout the IT industry, which has increasingly turned attention to environmental concerns.

The financial services arm of HP encourages customers to lease computer equipment, and as part of those contracts the company is responsible for recycling hardware, as well as for scrubbing personal data from machines to meet U.S. regulations related to protection of private information. Other major IT vendors such as IBM Corp., Dell Inc., Toshiba Corp. and Apple Computer Inc. -- to name but a few -- have similar initiatives.

Governments, including the European Union, have established regulations regarding the disposal of hazardous materials as well as laws related to recycling of computer hardware. Meanwhile, environmental groups also continue to push companies to assume responsibility for safely disposing of equipment that contains toxins such as lead, mercury and cadmium.

"Those types of laws, particularly related to the handling of hazardous materials, are, I think, probably the most important drivers," spurring companies to initiate hardware recycling and refurbishment programs, said Roger Kay president of analysis firm Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc. in Massachusetts. "It's the fear of litigation that drives companies to do the right thing here. They're not all touchy-feely environmentalists."

There is no U.S. federal legislation regulating hardware disposal or recycling, although invididual states have such laws, and the U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency has a number of initiatives related to safe disposal, recycling and so-called "green" design. The latter reflects a growing movement aimed at redesigning computer equipment so that it is made with minimal potentially toxic elements.

Hardware recycling efforts overall have begun to bear fruit -- Carnegie Mellon University's Green Design Initiative predicts that almost 150 million computers will be recycled this year, which had been the number predicted to wind up in landfills. Instead, about 55 million will end up in the trash, with that number expected to continue to decline as consumer awareness becomes heightened.

No matter the motivation that pushes companies to recycle or reuse hardware "it's great for customers," said Anne MacFarland, director of infrastructure architectures and solutions at The Clipper Group Inc. consulting firm. Such programs enable users to obtain affordable hardware. School districts often lease or purchase used equipment, as do many small businesses whose owners can't afford newer technology or whose IT needs are fulfilled without new gear.

But it's particularly beneficial, MacFarland said, when companies assume liability for their customers when it comes to equipment disposal, making it more likely than not that regulations will be followed.