Some Hazardous Materials Found in Computers

Keep old computers from going to waste — Recycle with Skills!

Skills is a Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection
Permitted Computer Recycler
DEP Permit #WMGR081D014

Responsible Recycling “R2” Certified
meeting or exceeding the standards of computer recycling set forth in the CDRA ACT 108 of 2010.

Keeping hazardous materials out of landfillsSkills environmentally safe computer recycling service creates jobs and job training opportunities for people with disAbilities.

About 40% of the heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, in landfills come from electronic equipment discards. Harmful chemicals and heavy metals leached from landfills contaminate groundwater and streams.

The burning of plastics releases dioxins and furans into the air; these chemicals are known developmental and reproductive toxins which persist in the environment and concentrate up the food chain.

Some of the hazardous materials Skills Computer Recycling Service helps keep out of the environment include:

  • Lead found in cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and solder. A CRT monitor can contain between four and eight pounds of lead alone.
  • Arsenic found in older CRTs and monitor glass
  • Selenium found in circuit boards as a power supply rectifier
  • Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) found in plastic casings, cables and circuit boards
  • Antimony trioxide used as a flame retardant
  • Cadmium found in circuit boards, semiconductors, and cables
  • Chromium used in steel as corrosion protection
  • Cobalt used in steel for structure and magnetism
  • Mercury found in switches, housings, and lamps. Mercury is toxic is very low doses and causes brain and kidney damage — just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury can contaminate 20 acres of a lake, making the fish unfit to eat.
  • Phthalates used as a softening agent in cable plastics.

eWaste Facts

  • Almost 40% of the heavy metals found in landfills, including lead, mercury and cadmium, come from electronic waste (Electronic TakeBack Coalition, 2009).
  • In 2007, the United States generated 3 million tons of electronic waste: 86.4% was trashed and only 13.6% was recycled (U.S. EPA, 2008).
  • It is estimated that eleven million Americans live within one mile of a hazardous waste site and three to four million of those are children.
  • Human exposure to heavy metals can occur through drinking water, airborne dust, and crops.

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