You have a good point and you've posed a great challenge.

Our company generates a pretty regular supply of populated (mostly through-hole components with lead/tin solder) scrap circuit boards as field returns, product updates, etc. Plus we have several skids of raw boards (copper traces only - no components) that we'll never use.

Anyone know of a company in the US that would be interested in such items just for the reclaimed metal / fiberglass? Ideally paying us a little something in the bargain, of course.

Is it possible to import into India. We will arange for that. Could you please let me know the quantity waste generated per month. mail me for further details:

karthickyadav@gmail.com

Dear Guest; please consider registering as a member after you go here for a look-see. There are many listings divided by category. You may even find someone in your own neighborhood!

http://www.recycle.net/computer/scrap/index.html

Hello Dr. Ben Dsouza

The major difficulty is that in many countries there are OSH (Occupation, Safety, Health) and similar laws.

So to strip articles down to the basics you require a special factory, built to comply with all local anti-pollution and OSH laws.

The waste products have to be safely disposed of too, and that disposal often presents very costly problems, so it is easier to export the problem.

A typical problem exists with old lead-acid batteries, which are unable to be recycled in Countries where proper precautions are taken, to be chopped open by barefoot people using axes, and the acid leaches out to run into local streams and aquifers:
Treaty guidelines to improve recycling of batteries

Unfortunately many Countries and Cities export their rubbish, New York City is just one example - Please read the full PDF document: Disposal of the waste of the City of New York

In all recycling there are costs involved, and it is generally cheaper to send the articles elsewhere, rather than recycle them properly on a local basis.

The NIMBY Rule = Not In My Back Yard does apply in the recycling business, as in many others.

The problem is all about cost, and it is always cheaper to use new materials at a factory, rather than a blend of recycled products, the characteristics of which may not easily be certified.

We do have this problem here in New Zealand, plastic containers are marked so they can be sorted into plastic types, and recycled, but that requires each used container to be checked for cleanliness, then the mark checked, then thrown into the correct pile for recycling.

All that requires people, each container has to be properly checked, and of course the recycled plastic can never be used for food, drink, or medical purposes - so the recycled plastic becomes the input for making plastic flowerpots, garden stakes and the like, but there is a limited market for those things.

Here in my local city, there has been a Trust set up, to accept and process unwanted articles, and that Trust employs some 200 people, but still the system needs to be fine-tuned: http://www.ccc.govt.nz/waste/recycling/

Glass, steel, copper, stainless steel, brass and aluminium are great for recycling, because these are not generally contaminated with toxic materials, and the temperatures attained during the re-melting process generally destroys damaging toxins and organisms.

Kind Regards....

Sparky; What I've encountered as major difficulties are these two factors:

1) There has to be a market for the material in order for recycling to be implemented. Glass is one of the most ultimately recylable materials there is. I used to live in Colorado, where Coors Brewing (beer) is a big industry. They will pay for brown glass and use it to make more beer bottles, but clear, green, or any other color has no market, so usually is landfilled.

2) There must be an economy of the proper scale. It doesn't matter how recylable aluminum cans are, if you have 6, the value is so low, there is no opportunity to recycle them. If you have 6 pounds, you can get several dollars for them, but that is a good 108 cans.

Hello EnviroMan

I have just discovered that our local recycling trust is experimenting with recycling unwanted glass into glass tiles, similar to ceramic tiles.

If this is financially successful, I shall advise further, because the only other use for unwanted glass I know of, is to crush then crumble it into sand-sized particles, and include that as part of the aggregate into concrete blocks or footpath/road base materials.

Kind Regards....

What a grand notion! Yes, please do advise as to success, that could be a winning plan if the tiles are artistic enough.

Such recycling must also be cost efficient, not labor intensive and provide a product that is no more expensive than new materials. Recycling just to recycle, without concern for expense and use of the recycled material is not feasible. Forcing an inefficient and expensive recycling whether paid for by taxpayers or required by law raises prices/taxes and lowers the standard of living. There should be better ways to recycle that do not cost as much or that are profitable and do not need taxpayer subsidies.