Geek Ecological Dilemma

[JohnS_AZ]

After bailing out my shop I have a significant pile of old PCBs that I don''t want to accumulate any more.

If I throw them into the trash bin they'll go to a local landfill that is tightly regulated and environmentally controlled.

If I do the "green" thing and take them to an E-Waste collection point, they will get shipped over seas and burned in open fires, and environmental nightmare.

It seems to me that sending them to a landfill, while not a GOOD solution, is superior to having them shipped to China.

Opinions?

[Kiriakos-GR]

I had see on TV , that there was an factory in USA that turns the old PCB in to dust,
and then removes from it useful metals ,  and even extracts the Gold from them !!

I was thinking that this is the "standard procedure " about PCB recycling .

 

[apex]

Why don't do a grabbag thing?
Take a hot air gun, desolder all the parts and sell them in bags.
The PCBs, hmm...
If you're not an artist and want to do a sculpture, just give them to the normal recycling...
apex

[Bored@Work]

Opinions?

It is not under your control. Wherever you might deliver it for disposal, they might cheat and lie and not properly handle it. Especially taking the involvement of organized crime in the waste management industry into account.

My way forward would be to look what local regulations require or allow, and us the simplest legal way to dispose them. From there it is out of your control.

[Jon Chandler]

Office Depot (or maybe it's Staples) offers a service where they sell you a box for recycling electronics.  Fill it up and it goes....somewhere.  I don't know what they actually do with it or if it might go to China...

[tyblu]

Why don't do a grabbag thing?
Take a hot air gun, desolder all the parts and sell them in bags.
The PCBs, hmm...
If you're not an artist and want to do a sculpture, just give them to the normal recycling...
apex

This is a good idea! May do this myself..

[JohnS_AZ]

Just an update ...

While I did find a place that would take all of the circuit boards I'm not taking them there.

Tomorrow I'm delivering them, along with 3 ink jet printers, a laserjet, 2 fax machines, a small PBX system, and a bunch of other very cool stuff (crap) to a local hackerspace. Seems they have nights where they just tear shit apart.  Cool. :-)

http://twitpic.com/3rjixo

[osmosis321]

That's the best thing you could have done with it, IMO.

[DJPhil]

http://twitpic.com/3rjixo

Awesome!
That pile should keep them busy a while!
I'm jealous.