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For More Information: David Stitzhal serves as the Council coordinator. Contact him at Full Circle Environmental, Inc. 206-723-0528 or fullcircle@nwnexus.com.

Last updated: November 15, 2001

Computer Equipment and
Product Stewardship

Approximately 14 million personal computers were retired in the United States in 1999. While 80% of old computers remain in storage, at least 55 million whole personal computers will be landfilled by 2005. In Seattle and King County alone, over half a million computers will be thrown away in the next five years if we do not change our technologies, policies, and practices for managing our old computers.

What is the Problem?
With technology and software developing rapidly, the useful life of computers—now typically three to five years—continues to shrink. Current designs are hard to upgrade and most are difficult to disassemble for recycling or re-use. Consequently, computers get "old" quickly and many end up in landfills. This is undesirable for several reasons, including:

• Toxic components. The glass in computer monitors contains lead, a hazardous material. Circuit boards contain chromium, lead and other hazardous materials. Landfills are often not designed to handle large quantities of these wastes.
• Wasted resources. Because computers are designed to be thrown away rather than recycled, it is difficult and costly to separate both the high-value recyclable materials and the high-toxicity components from discarded computers.

The Product Stewardship Solution
Currently, costs for managing computer wastes are borne by the public as a hidden component of trash fees. Therefore, there is very little incentive for manufacturers to improve "end-of-life" manageability of computers. A manufacturer who spends additional money on end-of-life management must risk losing business to the less responsible manufacturer who is able to charge less.

If computer manufacturers adopted product stewardship practices, the end-of-life costs would be included in the cost of the product when purchased, providing strong incentives for reuse, recycling, and toxicity reduction.

Council Involvement
The Northwest Product Stewardship Council has initiated a work group on computers with a goal of fostering product stewardship principles through purchasing practices. Through Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP), buyers of computer equipment include product stewardship criteria with all other purchasing criteria. See the shaded box for EPP examples.

The work group staff is meeting with major computer buyers in the Northwest to learn more about their purchasing protocols and to encourage the integration of EPP principles into those protocols. The group will also be contacting OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to discuss EPP guidelines with them, and to put them in touch with interested purchasers in the Northwest.