Saturday, April 12, 2008

Addison adds computer recycling to their annual garage sale

By Pegasus News wire

This year during Addison's annual garage sale (May 3 in the Sam's parking lot from 8 am to 2 pm), the city will be offering a computer recycling service. Addison residents can bring in their old computers and computer accessories (keyboards, printers, mice, etc). Any hard drives will be erased per the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards. Computer parts will then be separated into smaller parts for recycling or to be re-manufactured. Sorry, to have your stuff recycled, you must show proof of Addison residency.

The City of Dallas has a recycling program for computers that is free. You can drop your stuff off during their business hours or go to one of their recycling events that they hold 4 times a year. You must also be a resident of Dallas to take advantage of this program. Try calling your city to see if they have a similar program.

If your city does not recycle computers but you are interested in recycling your old desktop, I did a little research and didn't find much. I did find a few leads, but most "e-cycling" places seem oriented more for businesses getting rid of a bunch of computers, mainly because I believe they are considered hazardous materials and businesses must dispose of them by authorized facilities. Desktop Disposal has local number, but no price listing. To get a quote you have to fill out a nice long form.

Interconrecycling has prices listed on their site that seem reasonable (I'd pay $5 to recycle my computer), however it doesn't say anything about cleaning off the hard drives. I suppose if the company is ripping the dang thing apart anyway it doesn't matter, but aren't you supposed to clean all your info off your computer before you go to recycle it? Most of the recycling places for consumers require you to pack and ship your stuff to them. Kind of a pain in my opinion. If anyone knows of another good drop off place that's free or inexpensive and in town, please post in the comments below.

Source: The City of Addison

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