Hewlett Packard has come up with a plan to recycle old personal computers. Starting today, HP will pick up electronics from individual customers who sign up on a web site and pay a fee. This isn't HP's first foray into high tech recycling. The company introduced a recycling plan for businesses in 1997. Outdated personal computers represent something of a disposal problem.
State regulations prohibit computers from being discarded in conventional landfills.
The primary problem lies with the cathode ray tubes in PC monitors, which contain lead, mercury and cadmium. The tubes have been declared hazardous waste in California. According to a 1999 survey by a technology research firm, about 500 million PCs are expected to be obsolete by 2007. For more information on the Hewlett Packard recycling program, click on the link icon below.