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Apple Computer Recycling Program

This Is The ULTIMATE NEGATIVE WORTHY POLICY - Destroying Poor People's Dreams

Leoff said:
And, of course, there's negative ratings. Who would rate this negative?

Probably someone who wants Apple to pay them for their computer.
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I rate it SUPER-NEGATIVE BIG TIME BUDDY. This is just another way to keep the poor from ever having access to computers. This makes me very mad. Can't you see that?? :mad: :eek: :eek: :confused:
 
Multimedia said:
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:
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No, that's reusing. Recycling is stripping down and using the old goods to make new ones. There are plenty of places that will take computers for donation locally...a central operation is highly inefficient for donations. Why send things to a central warehouse and then send them back into the community? For recycling, it makes sense, because the processing is done centrally and the raw goods are passed on to factories.
 
What's so special about a recycling programme? Isn't every company required by law to take back devices they sold? I'm pretty sure they are in Europe.

I agree its rather wasteful to recycle anything that's still usable. I have never brought a working computer to the recycling centre and I can't imagine doing so.
 
Damek said:
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.
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Interesting as we were just learning about this topic in my environmental engineering class. Every modern recycling facility is designed with the idea that tons and tons of non-recyclable material will be sorted. They have a sorter for everything you can think of. When electronics show up they have means to deal with them. In fact 80% of the electronic devices that end up in sorting facilities are brand new. (Mostly retailers dumping off merchandise that can't be sold or merchandise that got slightly damaged.)

When you see bans on what can and can't be recycled it's usually not because the facility can't handle it. It's because there is no demand for the end product. (Ex. Most plastic is ground up and sent to China.) If there is no demand it because unprofitable to process it, hence the 'bans'.

Now who's the bad guy? The person 'freeloading' and putting 'contractually forbidden' items on the curb or the recycling center that tells you to throw certain things in the trash just because they can't make enough money recycling them?

I think what Apple is doing is a great step in the right direction for a US corporation.
 
Man, I'd never just throw out my old compter. If it happend to just die, i'd rather let it sit and rot in the storage room, rather than send it back to Apple.:rolleyes:
 
Should have happened a long time ago, with Jobs being democratic and Al Gore on the board of directors. :rolleyes:
 
This is a boon for those of us that live in communities that charge fines for not recycling, charge fees for recycling, and where the re-used Mac market is saturated. Getting an old Mac for free isn't hard, getting one that I would want for free is nearly impossible.

I would even pay for the opportunity to have my Mac recycled when it's end-of-lifed. If I can't give it to somebody or sell it, then I would rather it be recycled by Apple, or one of their sub-contractors.

Quite frankly, I think that we should pre-pay a recycling charge for all electronics- just like we do for disposable containers. It would lower the cost of recycling, improve the number of people that recycle (heck your getting a refund), and it would encourage companies to create "greener" electronics. I have no problem with a sliding levy on machines that are not as easily recycleable.

When you purchase a battery from APC part of the cost includes return mailing and ground shipping for the old battery. So I could go to Radio Shack and get a battery for cheap, but I would end up paying more to recycle the battery in my community (between $1 and $5 dollars per pound). The twin UPSs at my work weigh 150lbs each! Better the buy a new battery every couple of years and have APC deal with the recycling. This is one of the reasons APC rocks.

Go Apple.
 
mattster16 said:
Now who's the bad guy? The person 'freeloading' and putting 'contractually forbidden' items on the curb or the recycling center that tells you to throw certain things in the trash just because they can't make enough money recycling them?
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While true, there are two important things to consider that you're leaving out. One is that yes, modern recycling facilities can indeed handle electronics and lots of other materials that come in, BUT most recycling facilities are NOT "modern." They are only gradually being updated and improved to handle these products.

The other part is that, for better or worse, the decision on what will be recycled is already set. If you put something out that your waste management company tells you to throw in the trash, that means they won't recycle it and it'll still end up in the landfill. The only reason recycled materials wouldn't be profitable is if no one was interested in buying them. If no one buys them, then you just wasted money and time processing them for the landfill.
 
sonnys said:
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.
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I used to try and give computers to schools. I prepped the computers, etc. However the computers in some schools wouldn't last five minutes. Utterly destroyed. Granted, these were PCs, but I don't think Macs would do much better. The charity I did work for attempted to get computers into the kid's houses... but that didn't work so well since not very many people wanted to go into some of the homes where the kids lived. Very sad.

Not all of the schools were like that however. Some computers lasted a while. But don't just say, "Toss all the old computers into the schools that need it!" since the computers may just end up destroyed and of no use to anyone. Or a potential danger if a CRT is pushed onto the ground.
 
I'm guessing people vote negatively on this because they know the dark side of eco-PR campaigns. When Dell, IBM, etc big tier makers were caught using prison labour to dump so called "recycled" components into third world villages and let the dying 6 year olds sort it out and burn all the copper out of the plastics to sell them for a living, Dell et all were sued, it was in the news a few years back. But reputable companies still do it at a penalty because it costs way less. When you get "free" recycling, be very careful, since recycling costs a lot of money and labour, companies often off-shore it, and along with it, the poison and low-wage, no safety standards. There are dozens after dozens of pictures of recycle "shops" in China, India, etc, where the people wear rags and burn a bunch of bromine-fire-retardant-added-plastics with various brands on it. There are complete villages abandoned because of the ground water contamination with mercury, lead (CRT tubes, PCB's) and brominated ogranics.

Be very skeptical about "free" recycling. It isn't cheap.

here is some quotes from reputable news sites (Seattle Times):

"Q&A: Important facts about computer recycling

By Tim Johnson

Knight Ridder Newspapers

Some questions and answers about recycling computers:

Q: Why should I be concerned about what happens to my old computer once I erase my personal information?

A: Computers and other electronics contain numerous hazardous materials or metals in the circuitry, monitors and plastic casings.

Monitors: Between 4 and 8 pounds of lead, which can be toxic if ingested. When buried in a landfill, it can leach into groundwater.

Electronics systems and circuit boards: Small amounts of tin, copper, gold, palladium and antimony. Trace amounts of beryllium, mercury and cadmium, all heavy metals and harmful — sometimes carcinogenic — if ingested.

Plastic housings: Presence of flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, a toxic substance that builds up over time in human bodies.

Q: What is the federal government doing about exports of e-waste?

A: Nothing. The United States is the only major nation that hasn't ratified the 1994 Basel Convention, which bans exports of hazardous e-waste.

Moreover, the Environmental Protection Agency has no certification process for electronic-waste recyclers. Any company can claim it "recycles" e-waste, when all it might do is export it.
"
 
you know, i got excited until i realized i wouldn't be getting any discounts on my new mac purchases... like they have with the ipod. unlike pc's, macs hold their value very well, meaning you can still get a fair amount of money for a 5 year mac (think, 500 Mhz Ti Pbook, or Dual 867 Mhz G4). so this recycle program is only useful for those with... ANCIENT....machines... like my 117 Mhz powerbook 1400c, or my 8 Mhz Macintosh Classic... one of them i was going to turn into a fax machine anyway-
 
Dr.Gargoyle said:
Complete lunacy to destroy computers that aren't broken.
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That's just it! That's what this program is for! Computers that are not functional or are so old that they're worth more for their raw materials (basically anything older than a G3/300). If customers choose to send working G5 towers to the recycling plant, then yes, that's silly, but still far superior to tossing it in a dumpster.
 
What about iMac monitors?

This whole issue of Apple being "green" has finally driven me crazy enought to register for MacRumors and post a thread.

I think that it is absolutely insane that an iMac monitor can not be used as a monitor alone. Computers get outdated super quick and to have to throw away a monitor every time the computer is outdated is crazy and flat out irresponsible of Apple.

The best way to avoid waste is to not generate it in the first place. Apple is generating tons of usuable waste by not allowing the monitor to be used as a monitor.

I like a lot of things about Apple but this issue absolutely pi$$es me off.
 
Ring, ring.

"Hello, Apple Computer Recycling..."

"Ah, yes. I just purchased a new Intel MacBook Pro and have this Powerbook G4 I want to get rid of."

"Certainly, Ma'am. We'll send you a postage paid box, all you need to do is carefully pack the computer in the box, and be sure to include any power adapters or other accessories you have for it..."

"You mean, like this 100GB portable firewire hard drive?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Just put all of that in the box and we will be glad to dispose of it for you."

"How sweet of you."

"Glad we can help, Ma'am."
 
matticus008 said:
That's just it! That's what this program is for! Computers that are not functional or are so old that they're worth more for their raw materials (basically anything older than a G3/300). If customers choose to send working G5 towers to the recycling plant, then yes, that's silly, but still far superior to tossing it in a dumpster.
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I am not so sure. What about all those people that NEVER have experienced a computer. Not necessarily people living in industrialized nations. Donating the computer to them is a much better alternative than the sub-$100 computer.
What is non-functional computer to you is a marvel of technology to others...
 
matticus008 said:
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!

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.
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Thank YOU!

People this program is to get rid of YOUR NON-WORKING/BROKEN computers that are collecting dust, NOT COMPUTERS THAT ARE STILL WORKING. only stupid people would send back a working computer back to apple.

One should care about the enviroment and take the initiative to help clean the enviroment. Normaly it costs YOU money to dispose of a BROKEN computer, but apple is helping YOU OUT by doing this service for free. They are already helping you out! so there is no need for them to give you a discount for a BROKEN computer that normaly you would have to pay to throw a way! WHY CAN'T PEOPLE READ CAREFULLY?!

And no this is not curtailing the chances of poor people's access to computers. AGAIN, these are BROKEN COMPUTERS THAT WOULD GO TO THE LANDFILL.

I sometimes wonder why people can't grasp the easiest things.
 
Maxx Power said:
I'm guessing people vote negatively on this because they know the dark side of eco-PR campaigns. ...
Be very skeptical about "free" recycling. It isn't cheap.
...
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You are quite right with this. This is where the cult of Mac has brainwashed me, I expect Apple to do the right thing and not ship off the computers to other countries. I may be naive, but since the city I live in and Silicon Valley do have disassembly plants (the SV ones do all the work front to back), I expect that Apple may use them. Until proven otherwise, I will put the benefit of the doubt in Apple's favor.

Though I like the way you think. I am still in favor of a prepaid recycling levy. In any case, nothing is free. We pay for it when we buy our computer.
 
Leoff said:
And, of course, there's negative ratings. Who would rate this negative?

Probably someone who wants Apple to pay them for their computer.
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Yes, I want the $2,000 I shelled out for my Performa 550!!!! :)
 
Dr.Gargoyle said:
I am not so sure. What about all those people that NEVER have experienced a computer. Not necessarily people living in industrialized nations. Donating the computer to them is a much better alternative than the sub-$100 computer.
What is non-functional computer to you is a marvel of technology to others...
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A non-functional computer is a paperweight. As for functional computers, there's a point at which they are not useful for anyone, even people who have never had a computer at all--what would they do with a computer that couldn't run a modern web browser or connect to printers, let alone use an operating system that was contemporaneous with the rest of the world? Furthermore, in non-industrialized nations, where would they get power or Internet access, or even ink for printers? In this country, our own underprivileged are best served with computer access in community centers and libraries, where they don't have to worry about troubleshooting, power bills, internet access fees, and where there are people to help them use a computer. If you want to help people so poor that they've never encountered a computer, handing them an old computer isn't the way to do it.

The sub-$100 computer project is a new computer for the developing world, and a great idea. But that link you give supports shredding and smelting these old clunkers and using those raw materials in new computers that actually might be of some use to someone.
 
ELR said:
This whole issue of Apple being "green" has finally driven me crazy enought to register for MacRumors and post a thread.

I think that it is absolutely insane that an iMac monitor can not be used as a monitor alone. Computers get outdated super quick and to have to throw away a monitor every time the computer is outdated is crazy and flat out irresponsible of Apple.

The best way to avoid waste is to not generate it in the first place. Apple is generating tons of usuable waste by not allowing the monitor to be used as a monitor.

I like a lot of things about Apple but this issue absolutely pi$$es me off.
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Couldn't agree more, although the iMac might not be quite as wasteful as you make it out to be. Most people (especially in the PC world) get a new monitor when they get a new computer since they come packaged.

I love the iMac, but noone can argue that it is not somewhat unnecessarily wasteful. The hierarchy of waste management:

1. source reduction
2. recycling / reuse
3. incineration (hopefully w/ energy production)
4. landfill

Apple is skipping to number 2 and currently most likely 3 or 4 (plastics are regularly incinerated, plastics = carbon structure = pure energy) on this for no reason other than asthetics. At least Apple is helping to promote recycling.
 
chepistolas said:
AGAIN, these are BROKEN COMPUTERS THAT WOULD GO TO THE LANDFILL.
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Seriously, how many computers actually breaks beyond repair? 99% of all computers just get too old to run the latest and greatest on. Moreover, a broken computer can also be viewed as a pile of computer components where most of the component works. My point is that these computers would do MUCH more good in the hands of peopel deprived of ANY computer experience. They can learn from these machines and these computers would be able to propel computer illiterate people in a much more cost effective way than the sub-$100 project.
 
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