Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
Management of Old Computers and
Other Electronic Equipment in Colorado

Electronic equipment like computer monitors, central processing units (CPUs), scanners, and cell phones contain a number of hazardous constituents such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chromium and silver.  Many of these constituents are found on the circuit boards or in the glass.  CPUs also contain a battery such as nickel-cadmium, lithium or sealed lead acid.  These constituents are not a concern while the equipment is in use, but if disposed of in a landfill, harmful chemicals could leach out and contaminate groundwater and soil.

Regulations Governing Electronics Disposal

Disposal of waste electronics from non-residential sources, including businesses, industry, schools and government agencies, is regulated as hazardous waste in Colorado.  The most recent data available demonstrates that cathode ray tubes (CRTs) from color monitors and color televisions consistently exceed the regulatory limit for lead.  As a result, color monitors and color televisions from non-residential sources that are destined for disposal must be managed as hazardous waste, unless you have tested your equipment to show that it is not hazardous or if you have other supporting data from the manufacturer.  Monochrome monitors (amber, green or black and white) do not contain significant amounts of lead or other metals because of the way they were manufactured, so you can dispose of monochrome monitors as solid waste.  (As a practical matter, your trash hauler likely won't accept any kind of monitor in the trash since they won't easily be able to distinguish a monochrome monitor from a color one.)

Recent data also indicate that other electronic equipment, such as CPUs, keyboards, mice, scanners, cell phones and VCRs, exceed the regulatory limits for heavy metals (primarily due to circuit boards and other electronic circuitry) and should be managed as hazardous waste if sent for disposal. 
                                  
                           

Recycling

The state of Colorado strongly encourages (but does not require) the reuse, refurbishment, or disassembly for materials recovery (collectively called “recycling”) of end-of-life computer equipment instead of disposal of these materials.  While recycling unwanted electronics is the environmentally preferable thing to do, the value of the materials in an old computer or other piece of equipment is often less than the labor involved in recycling or arranging for reuse.  Even though you will generally have to pay for recycling services, the cost to recycle will be less than the cost to dispose of the equipment as hazardous waste.

When a computer is disassembled for materials recovery, it is taken apart and its parts are then sent to various places to be recycled.  For instance, the metal housing may go to a steel recycler, the computer chips to a company that can separate the metal from the plastic and reuse both components, and the plastic parts be sent to a plastics recycler.

Households

The state of Colorado also strongly encourages households to recycle their old electronic equipment, but they are not required to do so. Unwanted electronic equipment from households is exempt from state hazardous waste regulations and associated requirements even though they contain the same hazardous materials as business-related electronics.  Therefore, households may choose to recycle their end-of-life electronic equipment or dispose of it in the trash.   “Household” includes single-family homes, apartments, university dorms, hotels and motels, retirement homes, bunkhouses, ranger stations, and crew quarters.

Size of the Problem

End-of-life electronics are a growing portion of Colorado's waste, and a growing environmental problem for the state.  The table below illustrates estimates for 2003 of the number of computer systems that became obsolete in the state.  If all these had been disposed of in our state's landfills, it would've added 9,200 tons of lead to the environment.

For more information

Management of Electronics Waste - Compliance Bulletin

Responsible Management of Old Computers for Large and Small Businesses, Industry, Schools and Government Agencies - Compliance Summary

Email questions to comments.hmwmd@state.co.us or call the Customer Technical Assistance Line at 303-692-3320 (1-888-569-1831 ext. 3320 toll-free)