JMU, CITY UNITE TO COMBAT HARMFUL COMPUTER WASTE

From: Media Relations

December 10, 2003

HARRISONBURG — About 220 million tons of formerly high-tech hardware — old, obsolete computers put out to pasture — are trashed every year in the United States, estimates the Environmental Protection Agency.

And only about 10 percent of old computers, disk drives, printers, monitors, cell phones and similar equipment is being recycled or reused.

The rest ends up in landfills, which could result in harmful toxins seeping into groundwater supplies.

Battling this trend on a local level are James Madison University and the City of Harrisonburg, which are working together to ensure that their discarded computers and other electronic equipment are reused, recycled or disposed of in an environmentally responsible way.

Associate Professor Geoffrey Egekwu said the project started taking shape this summer after city officials approached JMU's College of Integrated Science and Technology about how to handle electronic waste. Egekwu decided to turn the problem over to his ISAT students.

"Part of the problem was that we weren't completely sure of what materials were even in these electronic discards," Egekwu said. "So one aspect of our work with the city was to determine just what chemicals and substances are there and to make an inventory of them."

The inventory, he said, includes such toxic materials as mercury, lead, cadmium, beryllium, hexavalent chromium, brominated flame retardants, PCBs and polyvinyl chloride. But there are recyclable substances as well, including copper, aluminum, silver and even small quantities of gold.

The goal of JMU and the city, Egekwu said, is to eventually disassemble these components, reuse those that can be reused and properly dispose of those that can't.

"You can use some of the other parts to rebuild or refurbish other computers," Egekwu said. "Other parts that can't be reused, such as plastic casings, can be ground up and recycled to make other products. In the past, everything — chemicals, plastics, different hazardous materials — has gone into the county landfill."

Egekwu said that while the project is in the early stages, it is hoped that JMU will eventually establish a manufacturing operation at CISAT that will, almost on an assembly-line basis, tear down, strip and sort electronic equipment for either proper discarding or reuse.

But JMU's involvement with the city goes beyond just the recycling of electronic equipment and components. Teams of ISAT majors are also working with Harrisonburg to find recycling venues for scrap tires, develop an efficient method for processing waste vegetation into salable compost and devise a recycling plan for glass.

"All of these recycling projects for electronic and other waste have the potential to make money, but that's not really the prime focus," Egekwu said. "What it will mean is cleaner groundwater, safer landfills and, ultimately, a cleaner, healthier environment."

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