[Info-vax] Digital: Vax Alpha Integrity ... One Love - OpenVMS (YouTube video)

[terry+googleblog at tmk.com]

On Friday, January 30, 2015 at 9:31:10 AM UTC-5, MG wrote:
> Is that common in America, people just throwing electronics, entire
> systems, with PCB boards and what-not (i.e. chemical waste) into
> 'dumpsters'...?

It was more common some years ago. There was a reasonably long time interval between the time when scrap computers were worth taking for their gold content and the time that WEEE-type regulations came into effect here. These days, while systems may still go into dumpsters, those are dedicated dumpsters that get taken to places that divide the contents into resellable as-is, useful for components, or scrap recycling. http://www.tmk.com/transient/server-dumpster.jpg

This, of course, generally applies only when the equipment is being discarded by an organization / person that understands the rules. I still see computers / copiers / televisions put out with the regular garbage.

And of course, some organizations get "creative" with the rules. At one supermarket, employees were told that replaced fluorescent lamps had to be treated as hazardous waste (due to the mercury content) and put in a special recycling pile. The presenter went on to say "but if they're broken, that doesn't apply". The end result was that the employees would put the lamps into the trash compactor.