The best way to dispose of old peripherals?

[Lang Craighill]

I am doing a major overhaul of my workspace, and would like to get rid of piles of old computer peripherals. Any suggestions on the most ecologically/socially aware way of doing this. I know they have lots of circuit boards and chips filled with nasty chemicals, and I don't want them leaching into ground fill or harming some poor kid in SE asia trying to get the precious metals out. I know of good options in the US, but not sure what to do here in Tokyo, so any leads would be helpful. Thanks.

[Jim_S]

Not 100% sure on this, but I think stores that sell such stuff, such as Softmap and PC Depot, are now OBLIGED to collect and recycle them. At least, I've unloaded a bunch of unsellable stuff there. I've never had to pay, and am usually given 100 yen in purchase points.

[Tim eX]

I am doing a major overhaul of my workspace, and would like to get rid of piles of old computer peripherals. Any suggestions on the most ecologically/socially aware way of doing this. I know they have lots of circuit boards and chips filled with nasty chemicals, and I don't want them leaching into ground fill or harming some poor kid in SE asia trying to get the precious metals out. I know of good options in the US, but not sure what to do here in Tokyo, so any leads would be helpful. Thanks.

Truthfully I think if you don't want it harming someone else you'd better keep it yourself. If you pass it on there's probably a high possibility it will end up dumped or passed off to a 3rd world country.

T

[Simon Varnam]

Truthfully I think if you don't want it harming someone else you'd better keep it yourself. If you pass it on there's probably a high possibility it will end up dumped or passed off to a 3rd world country.

What happens when he dies, iTm?

Doe anone KNOW what the stores do with the items they are obliged to dispose of?

There was an empty plot on my commute-route where they were collecting all kinds of stuff, which has all now disappeared, but for a couple of bins for paper recycling. I too have some stuff to dispose of but certainly don't trust the "keitora" guy who comes round almost every day to dispose of it safely.
:-{
SPV

[Adam Kauffman]

SHORT ANSWER:  They're only obliged to recycle computers (the actual box) and their monitors. All the rest: you're on your own.

LONG ANSWER:  I ran up against this a while back with my till then trusty, albeit rarely used Canon CanoScan 8400F scanner, purchased during a trip to the US (Ingrish manual and bundled software).

Suddenly one day it simply wouldn't scan anymore. It lit up, made all the right noises, and then after a pregnant pause Photoshop Elements (and other similar programs) would deliver up this notice:

No amount of fiddling, unplugging, reinstalling or even connecting to other computers would revive its operation.  A call to Canon here eventually got a pleasant young lady on the line who told me that they'd be happy to have a look at my (just out of warranty, wouldn't you know it) scanner, for a mere ¥11,000  , or, just a shade over what it cost me new. Thanks, but no thanks.

Well, eventually I needed a scanner again, and so took a trip over to the big Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku to buy the next generation of the same thing (CanoScan 8800F).
I thought they would take the old one in exchange for disposal, seeing as how I was buying a new one from them, but was REALLY surprised to hear that, as noted above, they only accept computers and monitors (and, who know?, possibly only CRTs at that).

So, I still have what is essentially an immaculate Canon scanner in a box and all its bits still in their packaging, but with this damned warning message rendering it effectively useless -- unless I care to fork over ¥11k just so it can meet its maker (parts, if any, separate, I'm guessing).

No recycling -- never mind reasonable repair -- of any kind available, it seems.

If anybody here would like to take their chances on reviving the thing (it really was an excellent scanner for the short time it worked), you're certainly welcome to it. Drop a line if you're interested. Otherwise, I guess eventually I'm going to have to dismantle the thing and chuck it out in the trash bit by bit, feeling a bit like a murderer disposing of body parts.

My, times have certainly changed. It's still very much a disposable world now.  , regardless of all the "green" advertising campaigns.

A.

[Lang Craighill]

I met a guy a while ago that is trying to make a 3D printer out of salvaged scanner parts. He may be interested in taking it off your hands.

If you have that much trouble recycling a fairly new scanner, it will likely be more tricky for me with the various odd chatckas I have left over (Zip drives, anyone?... With SCSI connectors??)

[Phil O]

Lang,

Inasmuch as some Ringoites are still using old Macs (with, e.g., OS 9, and some even earlier, I believe), have you considered posting a list of the items as giveaways in the Ringo Classifieds section? Probably Ringo people would take items only if they could make use of them, and wouldn't just trash them carelessly. Perhaps the Tokyo PC Users Group
has a similar Classifieds section.

Phil O

I am doing a major overhaul of my workspace, and would like to get rid of piles of old computer peripherals. Any suggestions on the most ecologically/socially aware way of doing this. I know they have lots of circuit boards and chips filled with nasty chemicals, and I don't want them leaching into ground fill or harming some poor kid in SE asia trying to get the precious metals out. I know of good options in the US, but not sure what to do here in Tokyo, so any leads would be helpful. Thanks.