Water Quality District - Hazardous Waste
Computers
What is the Problem?
Computers and their associated accessories and products quickly become obsolete and most are discarded. Computers and related waste have become major contributors to landfills, and many items contain hazardous materials.
Most television and computer monitors contains a picture tube, known as a cathode ray tube or CRT. A CRT contains between 2 and 6 pounds of lead, accounting for 75% of the lead in garbage. Lead is a hazardous and toxic metal. It has numerous health effects and once in the body it can accumulate. CRTs may also contain other hazardous or toxic substances such as cadmium and mercury.
Disposal Options
Reuse:
- Donate: Donate your working computer or television to a thrift store or organization in need. You could receive a tax deduction, and would be helping someone else out.
- Donate you item to your local church, school, or daycare.
- Give Away: Contact Re-Compute Computers at 543-8287 (see listing, below, under Recycle); Contact the Missoulian, Missoula Independent, or Messenger to see if they are offering free "give-away" classified ads.
- Sell: If you have a working computer that is in good condition, call a business that buys and sells computers or list in the local classifieds to sell it yourself.
Recycle:
- Learn more about recycling computers at the EPA Recycling Website
- Click here to visit another site with helpful information.
- Some retailers like Staples and Costco may offer recycling options.
- Some computer manufacturers, such as Dell, Apple and HP take old computers back for reconditioning or recycling, usually for a fee. Some give discounts for recycling and then purchasing a new system.
- Accessories such as disks and ink cartridges can be recycled at Greendisk, or other specialty electronics recycler.
Local recycling options:
| Re-compute Computers |
543-8287 | Computers, monitors, and some other hardware (call for specifics) |
Some items taken for free; some may have fees |
| Staples, Costco (members only) | Computers and monitors | Call for fees, or visit websites. | |
| Palmer Electric Technology | 543-3086 | Monitors, televisions, other E-waste |
Call for fees. |
The Residential Disposal Guide is provided by the Missoula Valley Water Quality District as a public service and is not an endorsement of specific businesses, services or products. Any omissions or inaccuracies are unintentional. Please contact us with corrections or additions. Call businesses or agencies to confirm hours, locations and charges for services, if any. For information on disposal of items not listed, email or call the Water Quality District at 406-258-4890, M - F, 8 am to 5 pm.
Much of the information provided is from the Washington County, MN, Dept. of Public Health and Environment website.
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