To think that more should be done to recyle all computer parts

[Reallytired]

Proper cycling of electrical equipment like computers costs a fortune. Otherwise the computer just sits in landfill. Quite rightly the governant has brought in regulations forcing organisations like charities, businesses, schools to pay for the machines to recyled properly.

It is quite expensive for a small school to get rid of old machines. Unlike companies a school's machines are often far to old to be resold and recyled. The school where I work has machines that are 10 years old and they get rid of them once they truely stop working.

I have been getting quotes for my school to dispose of really old machines. It looks like it will cost around £400 for disposing of about 15 dead monitors and 15 dead machines. Unlike new computer equipment or software the school has very few grants to pay for proper disposal.

I think there should be a tax on electrical goods to help pay for the proper disposal of electrical goods.

I think that ink cartridges should NOT be more expensive than a brand new printer which comes with ink cartridges included.

We have two perfectly working monitors, 17 and 19 inch we need to get rid of, but nobody wants them as they are not flat screen. We just dont know what to do with them.

sorry they are not FLAT. They are the old style, but flat screen. Reasonably new too. Such as shame.

That sounds awfully expensive, reallytired - I can't quite remember what our guy charges, but I don't think it's as much as that - I'll check tomorrow when I go back to work.

RM will dispose of items for £11 each, which would work out at £330 for your collection. Also, if you've bought new items, the manufacturer has a duty to dispose of the things they are replacing, so that would be worth looking into.

£400 is very expensive, I work in waste management and could certainly get them collected and recycled for much less than that! Where abouts are you? To be honest it's not usually the recycling/disposal that's the expensive bit it's the transport.

QS have you tried freecycle?

Transport would not be an issue. We could put the old equipment in a minibus and take it to wherever.

The rules about companies taking back equipment that is being replaced I think only applies to private householders. I didn't think the law covered schools until about 2010.

The machines are really old and are not working. The machines are typically about 8 to 10 years old and have stopped working. (Typically the hard disk controller on the mother board has failed.) We tend to strip the old machines for spares and canbalise old machines together.

I work in Hertfordshire.

It came into force in last July. This is from the Hertfordshire Grid for Learning.