Heya

I've noticed that from time to time we get rid of machines and monitors that are SO old, knackered or near unusable, that no-one wants them (even collecter types on these forums). So I thought that I'd start a recycling thread of places where you can offload your old hardware. Even if monitors/computers are scrapped, there's plenty of recoverable materials inside (example : a CRT monitor can have up to 5kg of lead in it!)

As people add replies to this thread, I'll update this initial post.

TASMANIA

For WA:

http://www.tadwa.org.au/ - Technology Assisting Disability WA Inc.

http://www.recycleit.net.au/

and here's a page listing a bunch of other places computers and IT stuff can be recycled:

http://www.wastewise.wa.gov.au/pages...us2.asp?ID=100

Cool Thanks tintinaujapon - I'll add more as I go through that list...

If anyone has dealt with any of these, and has found them to be good (or bad), then post here also. I personally would prefer to support non-for-profit groups as opposed to commercial companies, but will post all (since this is a forum!)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(napes @ Jun 15 2006, 10:44 PM) [snapback]184531[/snapback]</div>How about places like St Vinnies? They take old comps, I don't exactly know what they do with them because some are quite old and totally not something they can resell to the public :unsure:

Re: St Vinnies - who knows what they do with them! Even low low spec machines can be useful for email etc I guess... But agreed - they're not worth anything...

At least with recycling places, things like CRT monitors are sent of the plants where they're processed and things like lead, silver, mercury, copper etc are recovered. I dropped of an old 1401 apple monitor to a place in melbourne which they then shipped off with a bunch of others to Sth Australia. Cost me $5 (yes I paid them to take it off my hands!), but I felt better about it not leaching shit into the ground like it would if it became landfill!

Also GreenPC (see www.greenpc.com.au) - they collect old PCs from businesses and government departments and refurbish them to sell at low cost to the more needy members of the community (their customers must be holders of a health care card, aged pension card, disability card or some other documentation relating to low income or disadvantage).

The operate in Victoria, Qld, ACT and and WA. For anyone in Perth, they are in Bibra Lake and have a office at the back of the Amcor recycling depot.

I have donated a few items there and have volunteered some time to work with them. I recall most of the people that work there are volunteers. I think its a great way to distribute technology to members of community (particularly families with kids) who may not otherwise be able to afford the latest gear but can still get to use a computer at home.

Nice one vwl They sound like a good option - definitely one to add

Quite a few charitable organisations no longer accept electrical items - including computers - due to the insurance risk if someone buys a computer gets electrocuted from it. Larger organisations however, like Savers, do accept electrical components and sell it in their stores.

My previous employment was involved with Green PC in Melbourne; but to be honest the computers they were selling to health care card holders were way overpriced, and you could do better by trawling the Trading Post. But, of course that comes with no support or guarantee.

I also suggest putting up a thread on Appletalk for "free to good home"; many people, including myself, are always interested in retro Apple hardware. In fact, I get much more enjoyment from older 68K/PPC Macs than I do with newer models.

JB

http://reversegarbage.com.au/

This mob take all sorts of "useless" stuff... Wouldn't say they're are meticulous as getting all the lead out of monitors, but they sell computer bits n pieces that were otherwise going to landfill.

listing on a local group at http://www.freecycle.org/ or posting a freebie thread here is a good start. The relevant one for melbourne is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MelbourneOzFreecycle/ .

The salvos definitely do not take electrical stuff anymore.

recyclingnearyou.com.au is a good place to check for recycling/collection centres

Does anybody actually know if computer components are recycled for raw materials in Australia?

http://www.abc.net.au/science/featur...te/default.htm

I suspect little progress has been made since that article was written. Personally I feel that initatives like this are just window dressing. It is going to take a hell of lot more to save our species from extinction.

My job with a Sydney council involves clean up collection in a very affluent area. I would estimate that we would trash about 50 PC's ( and a proportunate amount of Macs) and monitors each week. The rubbish gets taken to a site where the larger pieces of metal are recycled. Some of the stuff we find is remarkable. Lately I have found:

2 x Powerbook 180 and 1 charger. ( i found discs with OS 8 the following week)
4gb 2gen iPod mini (complete with Altec Lansing speakers, itrip and faulty power adapter)
dell pentium 4 laptop (minus HD and charger so unsure if works yet- even so, the 2 x 256 sticks of DDR ram will be ok)
ibook g3 300 clamshell (dead HD but with Tiger install DVD in CD tray +256MB in slot)
Pentium 1 laptops with windows 95 (we are getting a little tired of these)

I used to collect ram and HDs from the PCs, but now I don't bother unless it looks like the ram could be 256mb or above. My workmate found a 15GB Gen 3 ipod last week. He had found a charger and dead Gen 3 previously. This week we found about 15 kilos of polished copper tubing that obviously assembled into a new age pyramid. It had a 200mm long crystal attached to one piece.

It's a fricken disgrace that there is so much waste and so little consideration of it.

This is sorta related- Unless you are not embarrased easily, If do throw out your computer ERASE THE HARD DRIVE.

http://www.deh.gov.au/settlements/pu...ure/index.html

The Victoria Government has a specific recycling scheme for computers and peripherals, and it's a great idea. See Byteback's website. The only hassle is getting the stuff to the recycling depot as there is only one but hey it's free.

You can take "Reversegarbage" off the list for Brisbane- Computer Geek had to close up shop.

Here in SA there is a group called ITShare - http://www.itshare.org.au/ (the co. i used to work for recently donated just under 2 pallets of unused/obsolete computer hardware etc.)

From their site:

Best bit they came and picked it all up so no having to worry about how to get it to them, etc. Highly recommended. And rather than (as commonly happens) it goes into landfill or greedy recyclers get their hands on it, it is going to a worthwhile cause.

EDIT: Forgot to ad - we have dealt with the Freecycle group here in Adel on numerous occassions, and it has been great (as both receivers of stuff and alos getting rid of unwanted items).