Computer Recycling and Reuse FAQ

Recycling your old computer is a great way to get it into the hands of someone who can use it -- or at least into the hands of someone who can dispose of it properly. TechSoup answers common questions about reuse and recycling.

About Recycling and Reuse

Condition of Equipment

Options for Disposal

Tax-Deductible Donations

Ensuring Privacy of Your Data

Tips on Extending the Life of Your Computer

Dumping of E-Waste

More Information

About Recycling and Reuse

What is the best way to make equipment available for reuse to schools, nonprofits, and low-income people?

It works best for everyone involved if you donate your equipment to a nonprofit or school- based refurbisher rather than directly to a charity or school, especially if you need to wipe your hard drive or are not sure of the condition of your equipment. Refurbishers will ensure that equipment passed on to nonprofits and schools is working well and runs legal copies of software. They also know how to properly dispose of non-usable parts, so-called "e-waste." E-Waste is a large expense when disposing of non-working computers, especially CRT monitors. Refurbishers can often cut down on e-waste by using parts of non-usable computers to fix others. Refurbishers are also the best bet for placing more industrial equipment like routers, switches, and servers.

Because computer monitors are banned from landfills in several places in the country, it's wise to expect to pay something to recyclers or refurbishers that accept your computers. Costs generally range from $5 per item up to $20 per item. Monitors are the most expensive items for recyclers to dispose of because they contain lots of lead and are more often classified as hazardous waste.

How can I best assure myself that I am sending my system to someone who will truly reuse it?

It's very helpful to call recipients first to see if they can use your donation. Schools or charities or refurbishers usually don't accept donations they can't deal with. Then, if you possibly can, label your donations -- working or not working. The best assurance of reuse and of proper e-waste disposal is to donate to a refurbisher.

How do I find a refurbisher?

Find a listing of nonprofit refurbishers for your five-year-old or newer working equipment and find commercial recyclers for everything else on Techsoup's hardware donation section . Keep in mind that if you don't see a local resource, check the "national" category.

Find a listing of Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers also on the TechSoup site. Refurbishers that are Microsoft-authorized will wipe the hard drive of donated computers and ensure they are passed on with a new legal copy of a Microsoft operating system. Schools, nonprofits, and low-income people can find a listing of places that supply low or no-cost computers on the Techsoup hardware recycling section .

Condition of Equipment

What computer equipment is best suited for reuse?

Computer equipment that individuals or companies would like to pass on directly to schools, charities or low-income families should be no more than five years old, in working condition, and Internet-capable. Schools and nonprofits will use them mostly for the following applications: Internet browsing, e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and finances. Therefore, computers should meet the following standards: at least Pentium II computers with 32 megs of RAM and 2 to 4 gigabyte hard drives. Up to five-year-old working laptops and laser printers are in high demand, as are 15-inch or larger working monitors, mice, keyboards, and cables. Non-working equipment and equipment older than five years old should go to commercial recyclers.

How can I maximize the reuse potential of my computer system?

Donate your old computer within a few months after buying your new one. For most people, it is unnecessary to keep older computers around for parts or as a backup machine. The effective reuse life of a computer is only two or three years, so the sooner you get it back into the cycle, the more useful it can be.

It's important that you remove your personal information from any equipment you donate. If you erase the hard drive, it's very useful to the next user if you reinstall the computer operating system using the factory install disk and make sure you include that CD-ROM with the donated computer. All computer makers use different device driver software to run the monitor, sound, network, and modem. Factory install disks have all those proprietary software drivers and are necessary later when the operating system gets glitchy and needs to be reinstalled, as often happens every 12 months or so.

Can my products be used as they are or do they have to be refurbished or upgraded?

Almost all three-to-five-year-old working computers can be upgraded to do the six things most people do with computers: Internet browsing, e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and finances. Refurbishers often install bigger hard drives, more RAM, and often a network card for computers going to charities or schools. Up to three-year-old working computers are generally useful as-is.

Options for Disposal

Where are my reusable electronic products likely to go?

There are actually two streams of reuse. One is commercial and the other is noncommercial. The bulk of reusable computer equipment seems to be going in to the commercial used equipment market (for instance via eBay) or the secondary wholesale market. Secondary market companies receive equipment from large companies or commercial recyclers and resell whole computer systems or parts, often in developing countries. This is done by companies such as Asset Recovery Center, Sysix, HP Financial Services, Global Asset Recovery Services etc. Just like the automobile scrap industry, the most profitable part of the electronics recycling business is in reselling usable parts rather than from crushing equipment to salvage metals, plastics, and glass.

An increasing portion of reusable computers, however, are going toward noncommercial reuse: to schools and nonprofits either as direct donations or through nonprofit refurbishers. This movement is well under way in the United States and the United Kingdom, but much less so in other countries. A very small number of reusable computers are going to developing countries as donations as yet.

Can I sell my computer? To whom?

There is still a pretty good used market for three-year-old or newer computer equipment, usually through local classified ads or through eBay-type auctions. To find out the current fair market value of your computer, go to the Computers for Schools Canada free computer valuator. You can also use the Computer Blue Book at your local library or get a four dollar appraisal at CB Mart and at UsedComputer.com . The market value of computers drops dramatically after two years.

Can my non-working computers serve as training tools for students?

CompuMentor keeps up-to-date national listing of donation options at the TechSoup Recycling and Reuse section . Also worth trying is the free Share the Technology donor and recipient matching service. Computers that go to charity refurbishers are mostly used for training people in any case -- either in the actual refurbishing or because they end up in school labs or community technology centers across the country.

Tax-Deductible Donations

Am I eligible for a tax break if I donate my old electronics?

Yes, if you donate it to a library, school, or a nonprofit program -- including a nonprofit refurbisher. The tax laws pertaining to this are Section 170 of the Federal Income Tax Code, the New Millennium Classrooms Act, and the 21st Century Classrooms Act. Business donors can deduct the un-depreciated value of the computer, and individuals can deduct the current market value of a computer.

Example: A computer and related software with a purchase price of $3,000, valued at $500 at time of contribution, receives a $500 deduction on Schedule A. A written receipt must be received and Form 8283 should be attached to returns. The tax receipt that schools or nonprofits provide should have your name on it, the name and identifying number of the recipient organization, and the model and type of equipment donated. Recipients are not authorized to appraise the value of the equipment. You need to find out this information and add it to the receipt.

Ensuring Privacy of Your Data

If I have confidential information on my system, what questions should I ask of the donation recipients regarding privacy? What should I do before I pass on my system for reuse to ensure the security of my information?

If you haven't deleted your personal information, then you should definitely try and locate a nonprofit or school-based refurbisher. Most of these organizations routinely wipe hard drives and reinstall new operating systems. Simply ask them if they do this and what level of data security they provide -- the highest level is department of defense data security. A good first place to check for a list of such nonprofit refurbishers is the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher Program.

If you clean your computer of personal information yourself, it's best to use some disk cleaning software to delete your Internet browser's cache, cookies, history, your e-mail contacts and messages, your documents, emptying your recycle or trash folder, and deleting non-transferable software. A disk cleaning utility overwrites data so that is unrecoverable. Just recently, Garfinkel and Shelat at MIT collected 168 hard drives from eBay and other places and found that over 40 percent had recoverable data and over 30 percent had sensitive information like credit card numbers. PC World magazine did a more informal survey, buying or salvaging hard drives in the Boston area. It found that 90 percent had recoverable data. It is very important that you take some time to make sure your data on your old computer is properly deleted.

Here are some examples of disk cleaning utilities:

Commercial Windows Disk Cleaning Software

• Symantec's wipe Info feature in Norton Utilities and System Works
• Paragon Disk Wiper
• Webroot Window Washer
• Tracks Eraser Pro
• Wipedrive

Freeware Windows Disk Cleaning Software (all available at Shareware.com )

• Eraser
• Active@ Kill Disk - Hard Drive Eraser
• Disk Cleaner
• Sure Delete
• BCWipe (shareware)

Macintosh Disk Cleaning Software

• Symantec's wipe Info feature in Norton Utilities (using this, you can delete single documents and files)
• iClean
• SuperScrubber

If I have software on my system and wish to leave it on the system, do I need to include the licenses with my system? Yes. Older computers work best with older software, so it's incredibly useful to pass along any software that goes with your older computer like restore CDs, documentation, and any other software you won't use on your replacement equipment. To make sure that the next user has access to software that goes with computers legally, include the media (disks or CDs), manuals and any papers that look like legal documents. The most important ones are called End User License Agreements and Certificates of Authenticity. Note that the EULA may be an online document the user clicked "Agree" to years ago. The Certificate of Authenticity may be nothing more than some fancy printing with a serial number on the cover of the basic User Manual (if the system came preloaded, as many now do).

Tips on Extending the Life of Your Computer

How can I extend the life of my computer as long as possible?

Computers are generally considered to have a hardware life of at least 7 years, but a useful life of only three years. The main reason for this is software upgrades. As computer users get new software, they find they need more powerful computers to run it well. One way to extend the life of your computer is to upgrade your software deliberately and only as needed. Another good thing to do is to buy computers (laptops excluded) that are upgradeable -- with plenty of room to add expansion cards, storage capacity, memory etc. Very low-cost desktop computers have almost no expandability. TechRepublic's article "Three ways to breathe new life into older computers " discusses other options. It's also useful to develop some software troubleshooting skills or find a good repair person. When computers are slow and "crashy" it's most often a software problem clogging things up. When your computer is running well, you're more likely to keep it.

Dumping of E-Waste

What is the real story on myths about reuse -- do systems get dumped on schools that then have to dispose of outdated materials? Do such systems really get shipped to China for dismantling in unsafe conditions?

Dumping equipment on schools and nonprofits is a problem. People get pretty desperate trying to dispose of their old equipment and leave them at thrift shop or school doorsteps. Such computer donations are not a blessing. Computers older than five years old are not useful, and broken computers are expensive to dispose of. It is often the case that for every useful computer that is donated, a school or nonprofit must get rid of one or two that are not. Most Goodwill and Salvation Army locations across the country had to stop taking computers a couple of years ago because the cost of disposal made such donations a net loss. That's why it's best to donate to nonprofit or school-based refurbishers.

The Basel Action Network's "Exporting Harm " report estimates that 50 to 80 percent of U.S. e-waste ends up in Asia. Experts debate the exact number, but the practice is quite common in several countries and is creating some of the most concentrated lead pollution on the planet. Electronics scrap brokers buy e-waste legally in this country, are able to get favorable shipping rates, and then low-wage workers are hired to pull re-sellable components and heavy metals, like copper yokes out of CRT monitors. The real problem is the incapability of the U.S. to recycle or reuse the 50 million or so computers being disposed of each year.