Chesapeake Hampton Newport News Norfolk N. Carolina Peninsula Portsmouth Suffolk Va.
Local officials say a lack of markets for secondhand hardware and software is the prime reason.
However, Newport News is planning a collection day, probably this summer, for mothballed computers. And for about a year now, the city has operated a network that so far has distributed about 150 computers to nonprofit groups and thrift stores in the area, said Denise Jeffries, community recycling coordinator. Meanwhile, the Southeastern Public Service Authority, or SPSA, which handles most trash needs in South Hampton Roads, has recently established an informal recycling arrangement with a nonprofit group that rebuilds old computers and gives them to needy communities. The group uses college students and other volunteers to salvage donated equipment. So far, Lewis said, the group has brought recycled computers to learning facilities in Norfolk and Hampton, and is poised to take more to designated sites in Chesapeake, James City County and Southampton County.