[UgaBYTES] E-waste management at GK3- Computer recycling of refurbished PCs

[fadeco at satconet.net]

Dear Friends,

I am coming late for this discussion that has been initiated by Jose and Kiringai is given his input. It is a healthy discussion. It is upsetting as Jose put it- where do you put all these "E-Waste". Working from my poor environment (economic poverty living on less than 1 US $ a day), any donation is something and cannotbe disputed. How many people here for example in my country can afford an own computer? And where a donation comes in, what should one do. 

E-Waste management can be a big problem indeed as one wonders what to with lots and lots of CRT monitors lying watse here and there, etc. I have a feeling that, in Africa we need to develop technical skills to handle such a situation. I understand that in my local community, majority of us in the low income spectrum have never known a new fabric (short or trousers) and have depended on second hand clothing from the open markets. But I wish to inform you that, we have expert tailors whose major work is to fix patches on torm or worn out trousers. So you find that a trouser is eventually made up of many patches of different colours, quality, etc.. and yet serving the purpose of "covering the bones) of the wearer.

Back to E-Waste, I have personally experiemneted with thin client networks as one way to recycle what we may term "dead computers". Literally these would be computers that have their hard disks dead (and irrepairable). With thin clients managed by a dedicated server, one could put to use these "dead computers". The CPU in this case would work well as work stations although it would not be possible to save on them since theyhave no hard drives. 

The problem comes to CRT monitors which as Jose says contain a lot of lead which is dangerous. A friend of mine told me that he could turn an ordinaryCRT monitor to work as TV screen. That would be interesting. But again, this means we need to develop capacities to manage such technical aspects- instead of ending up as users only.

Joseph Sekiku
Manager
FADECO TELECENTRE
P. O. Box 223
Karagwe- Kagera region
Tanzania
Tel/Fax: +255 28 2223024 (office)
Tel: +255 28 2223033 (FADECO RADIO- STUDIO)
Cell: +255 754 605682

Skype ID: jsekiku
Yahoo ID: sekiku2002
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