KEEPING OLD COMPUTERS OUT OF THE WASTE STREAM

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 22, 2005 The National Recycling Coalition projected that by 2007, 500 million personal computers will be obsolete. The computers are often collecting dust in basements, attics, and corporate warehouses. In Washington State alone, a state that has 1.9% of the U.S. population, there is an estimated 9.5 million obsolete computers. The Seattle based non-profit organization, InterConnection, is doing something about the electronic waste problem – and at the same time, helping people in need around the world.

Originally established to bring computer and Internet technology to underprivileged communities, the organization expanded to provide electronic waste recycling services and a computer reuse program for Seattle residents by opening the Computer Reuse & Recycling Center in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. The result, as of 2004, is the 5,000 square foot Center where businesses and individuals can donate their old computer equipment, volunteers learn about computer hardware, and computers are repaired and refurbished for people and communities that need them.

Volunteers are the key to the Center’s success. The Center has an average of ten volunteers a day. Some volunteers are motivated by their interest in computers and InterConnection’s mission of providing technology to underserved communities. Others are interested in learning about computer hardware and receiving a free computer when they complete the program.

The Center’s volunteers are a diverse group: some, like Richard Stauffer, are students looking to learn information or are working towards various computer industry certifications. Others are like Paul Stern, who has volunteered at the Center for over a year. He continues to volunteer because he enjoys the contribution he can make to his community. Richard McIntosh has volunteered at the Center for over a month. He has learning disabilities and plans to use his volunteer experience for future job applications. He will also use his donated computer to search the Internet for jobs.

The Center volunteers are vital in the process of distributing computers across the globe, a process that InterConnection has been refining since 2003.

REFURBISHED COMPUTERS SENT ABROAD TO THOSE IN NEED

Most of the computers refurbished by volunteers are provided to schools or non-profit organizations in underserved communities locally and abroad. Since the program’s inception, InterConnection has provided over 3,000 refurbished computers to organizations around the world. Recipients include schools in Iraq, Fiji, Swaziland and non-profits in Paraguay, Panama and Mozambique. Microsoft provides InterConnection with grant funding to provide refurbished computers to their Computer Technology Learning Centers around the world.

It is extremely important that all computers sent abroad are well tested and can be used for a long period of time. Refurbished computers are typically used for 5 to 10 years, which is much longer than the 3 years of use for new computers purchased by people in the U.S. Unscrupulous actions of commercial computer exporters have made exporting computers a sensitive issue. Commercial exporters do not test their equipment and have ‘dumped’ electronics in countries in Africa and Asia. It is because of such actions that InterConnection follows the strictest procedures for testing and data wiping among computer refurbishing centers.

Computer systems and monitors contain toxic metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury. Heavy metals can cause damage to living organisms at very low concentrations and tend to accumulate in the food chain. It is important that old computers are recycled properly and not just thrown into landfills. In fact, King County recently passed an ordinance that bans computer equipment from being dumped into municipal waste systems.

Computers that do not meet InterConnection's reuse criteria are properly recycled at the Center or sent to a hazardous waste recycler. Functioning components are used to upgrade functional computers while other components, such as motherboards and processors, are recycled for their metals.

The Center receives computers from walk-in donations, corporate donations and through Recycle events. A lot of the computer donations for the Center come from a unique partnership with the Northwest’s largest electronics recycler, Total Reclaim, a Seattle-based recycler that receives thousands of monitors and computers per month.

Each day the Center receives more computer donations and volunteers. The success of the Center has provided InterConnection with the resources to provide other levels of technology support such as website donations and training to its support recipients. InterConnection is always in need of volunteers and computer donations. If you have computer equipment you would like to donate or have time to volunteer contact InterConnection at info@interconnection.org or visit the Computer Reuse Center website, http://computers.interconnection.org to learn about this and more ways that you can help.

InterConnection was founded in February 1999. The organization has grown to include a pool of over 100 Virtual Volunteers; it has supported over 70 organizations in 23 countries, and it has partnered with several international development organizations.

by Charles Brennick