Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Guy's I'm pretty sure this isn't Apple being green - In Europe from June 1st, Apple and indeed all electrical manufacturers who sell goods in Europe must provide this recycling service. Not sure about the US but I think it's along similar lines...
 
velocityg4 said:
I could only see using this if the computer was no longer functional, but I just toss that stuff in the recycling can. Let the recycling center sort it out I say, since I get charged to recycle anyway.

You get charged to recycle the materials for which your community has agreed to have a recycling service - if those materials include electronic devices, that's great, but if they don't, it would be irresponsible to burden the community recycling system with waste for which they are not responsible.

All citizens are still responsible for everything they purchase and use, and for disposing of them properly. If your community has a service that helps members dispose of certain materials, that doesn't mean they've accepted everyone's responsibility for all waste, only for the contractually, legally specified waste.

Just sayin'. I mean, if you paid for your own personal garbage removal service, you'd have a contract with them about what sort of waste they'd accept, and they'd get plenty pissed if you kept giving them waste they didn't agree to take. It's the same thing here except the city has the contract on your behalf as a citizen.

Personally I wish city services had a way to track garbage from its origin so they could return all the unacceptible materials to the freeloaders front lawns and doorsteps. Or just sort it at the origin and leave the contractually forbidden items there in the first place. Too bad that would all raise the cost, significantly.

EDIT: actually, more than that I wish recycling services would just be all-encompassing and that cities would stop arsing around with "we take this plastic, but not that plastic" type crap. NYC is like that - you can recycle some bottles, but not all ... it makes things more confusing and causes more troubles for them, I should think.
 
AlBDamned said:
Guy's I'm pretty sure this isn't Apple being green - In Europe from June 1st, Apple and indeed all electrical manufacturers who sell goods in Europe must provide this recycling service. Not sure about the US but I think it's along similar lines...
The EU program isn't quite the same, and there's no such law (yet) for the US. The WEEE doesn't require free disposal--there's a fee added to the purchase price of new electronics to cover the recycling program, much like the Canadian example above.

So assuming this program applies to Europe as well as the US, they're exceeding the obligations of the WEEE Directive.

EDIT: Also, as a point of interest, Apple would only be required to take old computers at their retail locations. Collection relies on municipal locations and retailers, not manufacturers, though it is financed by the manufacturers.
 
Hmm I'd rather give it away on eBay. The buyer takes shippings cost and I even get some cash, even if it's not functional. :D
A buddy brought his work mashine a few months ago. He said "I'm sure you'd like to have my iMac". I though it wsa the Lamp (G4), but it was the original (G3) iMac. I gave it away. Turned out it was one of the first iMacs (one of the first 100 to ever be shipped) and the guy sold it on eBay for quite a fortune. Guess how pissed I was. :eek:

Oh well, Good move for Apple. They should make hardware of recyclable material just like the boxes they come in :D . Serously, I wonder what they do with your ol' 'puter then. Offer them to schools? Recycle them for real? How do you recycle obsolete computer parts for a new computer anyway :confused:


I never rate in the forum by the way.
 
I'm glad Apple has moved forward like this. (And if certain protesters helped make it happen--good for them!)

As for donating old computers to schools--realize that they may be refused because a really old computer (or a jumble of different computers even if newer) can be more trouble and support cost than it's worth. But re-use is certainly better than recycling, so try to find that machine a home :)

An older machine can make a perfect one-trick machine (email, card games) for a relative who isn't into computers. That's what I do :) I set it up so it's really easy and only does a few things--but reliably.


MrCrowbar said:
Recycle them for real? How do you recycle obsolete computer parts for a new computer anyway :confused:
They reclaim toxic materials as well as recyclable materials. I believe it begins with some kind of scary big shredder, and then metallic components are separated from others, etc.

You can find electronics recycling like that locally--if you're lucky.
 
MrCrowbar said:
Serously, I wonder what they do with your ol' 'puter then. Offer them to schools? Recycle them for real? How do you recycle obsolete computer parts for a new computer anyway :confused:
The computers are scrapped for base materials, like normal recycling, and then used in the manufacturing of brand new components. The box likely goes directly to the smelters and recyclers; I doubt that Apple would examine each computer as it comes in to assess its condition.
 
MacTruck said:
Who would throw away a computer? And yep, this program would be nice if they bought them off of you. Maybe you people should call some schools in your area. I bet they would love to come pick them up from you. There is also the united way, toys for totts, salvation army... all of which will come to your house and pick them up. Think people.
I tried to leave my iMac G4s to a school, but they had the G5s before I did!
 
riciad said:
But some of us can't bear to part with our old faithful companion.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/194188/

Maybe if I held a funeral for it I could reconcile myself to disposing of it.
You could use the convenient box as a funeral barge and watch it sail off into the sunset as part of your funeral. Of course, instead of setting it on fire, you're just sending it to an industrial shredder...for recycling...which is kind of Soylent Greenish...
 
matticus008 said:
The computers are scrapped for base materials, like normal recycling, and then used in the manufacturing of brand new components. The box likely goes directly to the smelters and recyclers; I doubt that Apple would examine each computer as it comes in to assess its condition.

<sob> But... they really would kill a still funktional computer? They wouldn't do that, would they? Would be like sending my own child to an already lost war. <sob> I just can't let that happen. I happen to have an emotional relation to all my computers since I use them for years.
:p :p :p :p :p

I had an IBM wafer as mousepad once. Stole it on a tech conferenct from some guy :p . One day it fell down and got very... fragmented. Believe me, these things are worse than glass, you get glistering pieces and dust everywhere. I still find some bits of it sometimes. :eek:
 
Are You People Crazy?????

How on earth is "giving" your computer back to Apple a good thing????

Does anyone on this forum actually use their brains?

GIVE YOUR OLD COMPUTER TO A SCHOOL OR OTHER CHARITY for goodness sake, take a tax deduction, and do some good rather than giving it back to the same company who is already making a hefty profit on everything it sells you.

I wonder about you people sometimes.
 
That was my point actually. Since I give it away for free.
But people here are right. Sometimes it's hard to find someone to take an old Computer, especially if you can't run OSX on it ;)

So only call Apple if you tried hard enough to give it to someone that would use it.
 
sonnys said:
How on earth is "giving" your computer back to Apple a good thing????

Does anyone on this forum actually use their brains?

GIVE YOUR OLD COMPUTER TO A SCHOOL OR OTHER CHARITY for goodness sake, take a tax deduction, and do some good rather than giving it back to the same company who is already making a hefty profit on everything it sells you.

I wonder about you people sometimes.

i agree. unless the computer is old and broken, i'd never just give it away to someone i didn't know
 
Max on Macs said:
I tried to leave my iMac G4s to a school, but they had the G5s before I did!



Donating computers to Beverly Hills High School will return that result. :)

I refuse to believe that there are no schools out there that will take a working computer. They are still bitching about getting books.
 
Living in the Minneapolis area we have more people with money than sense. The trade-in program for the iPod has resulted in almost new iPods being traded in to get 10% off a new one. I have a friend who manages the store and he can't believe what people will trade in. The results for people who have an inside connection? An iPod for $50-$100 that is almost new and ready to use.

I wonder how many year old computers we will get from this???
 
MacTruck said:
Who would throw away a computer? And yep, this program would be nice if they bought them off of you. Maybe you people should call some schools in your area. I bet they would love to come pick them up from you. There is also the united way, toys for totts, salvation army... all of which will come to your house and pick them up. Think people.

Have you ever tried this? Good luck calling a local school or charity and asking if they'll make a trip to your house to pick up an old computer or crt monitor that you couldn't sell or give away otherwise.
 
Do More Apple

Macrumors said:


Apple announced that they had expanded their recycling program by now offering free computer take-back and recycling with any purchase of a new Mac starting in June...

I don't know about the rest of you...but I have always purchased a new computer before my current one is completely toast. The way it usually works is...my old computer gets relegated to "lesser" tasks in the household (kids games...rec room jukebox etc...) because it is still fully functional.

When it does actually die...since I have not just purchased a new computer, I am guessing that I would not qualify for the recycling program.

I think that Apple ought to find a way to receive any mac for recycling...even if they could be collected at apple stores or resellers once a quarter. It might lead to a huge amount of G3 imac's being turned in for recycling. Is their better press than ensuring 100,000 tons of hazardous waste is being disposed of properly?

Granny Smith move over!
 
sonnys said:
How on earth is "giving" your computer back to Apple a good thing????

Does anyone on this forum actually use their brains?
Do you? THIS IS FOR COMPUTERS THAT PEOPLE WOULD OTHERWISE THROW AWAY. It is meant to keep computers out of landfills, it's not a quest for Apple to deprive you of donating or selling your used computers.

Apple is paying for the shipment and recycling of old computers to manufacture brand new parts. That's it! It's good for the environment and free to you!
revjay said:
When it does actually die...since I have not just purchased a new computer, I am guessing that I would not qualify for the recycling program.
No, but if you keep computers until they no longer work, then the next time you buy a new one, you can pass off the old one. It requires you to hang onto it a little longer, but it's a small (free) price to pay for keeping totally recyclable goods from a landfill where they'll never break down.
 
sonnys said:
How on earth is "giving" your computer back to Apple a good thing????

Does anyone on this forum actually use their brains?

GIVE YOUR OLD COMPUTER TO A SCHOOL OR OTHER CHARITY for goodness sake, take a tax deduction, and do some good rather than giving it back to the same company who is already making a hefty profit on everything it sells you.

I wonder about you people sometimes.


Wonder away, but apparently you haven't been introduced to the real world.

Currently at my college, we're sitting on dozens of various old Macs that 1) have been offered and refused to numerous schools within the area, 2) have been up for sale at rediculously old prices, and 3) have been part of free give-aways. Nobody wants them.
 
revjay said:
[...]It might lead to a huge amount of G3 imac's being turned in for recycling. Is their better press than ensuring 100,000 tons of hazardous waste is being disposed of properly?

Granny Smith move over!

True. I hope you know about the iMac's radiation issues with the CRT...
 
This Is A Stupid Way To Deprive The Underprivilidged Of Old Computers

sonnys said:
ARE YOU PEOPLE CRAZY?????

How on earth is "giving" your computer back to Apple a good thing????

Does anyone on this forum actually use their brains?

GIVE YOUR OLD COMPUTER TO A SCHOOL OR OTHER CHARITY for goodness sake, take a tax deduction, and do some good rather than giving it back to the same company who is already making a hefty profit on everything it sells you.

I wonder about you people sometimes.
I think Apple should be running a program for the poor to refurbish, upgrade with 512MB ram and the latest system each model will work with then distibute them to the poor who can't afford computeres at any price - NOT destroying them to the recycling plants. :mad: :eek: :(

Recycling should mean passing on to the poor NOT passing on to a destructor. :mad:
 
Apple really are a lovely bunch of people.
I have 2 points to make.
1) I reckon they will build the new campus out of all these macs or they will use all these macs in the campus, they may use them as static displays or they may hang them from a tree or make art out of them.
2) I keep my old macs and pods, not only do they look good but the provide a lot of entertainment when bored, i also keep my packaging. Packagings the best bit.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.