With little fanfare, computer recycling has arrived on Temple University’s Main Campus.
The Computer Recycling Center (CRC) will coordinate the reuse and disposal of old computers and related hardware.
The program will collect old computers and determine whether or not it would be possible to make use of the collected equipment.
Before the creation of the recycling program, Facilities Management collected old computers and private contractors salvaged or disposed of the machines.
One such firm used by Temple and by Pennsylvania State University is Students for Computer Recycling to Offer Underrepresented Groups Education.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines govern the disposal of computers.
According to the EPA, computers are hazardous waste, prohibiting institutions from sending them to landfills.
CRC is part of the new office of Technology Recycling and Partnerships.
Any department that is getting rid of obsolete equipment must contact the CRC, according the manager of the technology recycling program, Scott Brannan.
Departments will pay a $50 per computer fee when they buy new computers to cover the cost of recycling.
Equipment that is unusable will be set aside for disposal by TechWORKS, a technology disposal company owned by two Computer Services vice presidents, Steve Sokol and Mike Grady.
Brannan hopes to salvage many of the old computers and make them available to other University departments.
“For a department still using 100 megahertz systems, old 300 megahertz systems will look pretty good,” said Brannan.
CRC will be creating a website that will list equipment that is available to University departments.
Departments will be able to browse the site and select equipment for their use.
It has not been determined whether departments will have to pay a fee to acquire the equipment.
“This has been a really good first step,” Brannan said.
He hopes that the program will be further expanded, although he declined to comment on the details because they have not yet received final approval.
Brannan said that computers that are not acquired by University departments will be donated to organizations and schools in the neighborhoods that surround the University.
“Local community will have the first priority,” he said.
A program is also being established with the John Wanamaker Middle School on
Cecil B. Moore Ave. Students will come to the CRC and learn how to take apart and repair computers.
After learning the fundamentals of computer hardware, the students will be given a computer to take home.
The CRC is located on the second floor of the Bell Building at 12th Street and Montgomery Avenue.
To request disposal, departments should contact CRC via phone at 215-204-4749, fax at 215-204-5734 or e-mail at crc@temple.edu.
Andrew Linenberg and Brian White can be reached at temple_news@hotmail.com.
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