A quick on-line search shows that some electronics recyclers are willing to take your equipment for free, while others charge a small fee. We’ll explain the difference between these two business models and how choosing the wrong computer recycler can cost your company a lot more than a small recycling fee.

It's time to dispose of those old computers, but who should you trust to safely recycle your equipment? Regardless of whether you're a business or an individual, understanding the implications of computer recycling is essential for keeping yourself safe from any potential legal and privacy issues.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB) took a gamble to save a few dollars on IT asset disposition (ITAD) services. The result was a serious breach of the privacy requirements for some 15 million individuals and a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for $35 million.

An investigation uncovers what Dell really does with those old electronics. For many manufacturers, recycling a responsibility they've been pressured to take on and, in the case of Dell Computer, it appears to be a responsibility that it was not qualified to handle.

We are now going to look at what you need to know before hiring a computer disposal company. Specifically, what questions you should ask so that you don't regret your decision down the road. Failure to do at least a little due diligence can result in expensive fines and damage to your brand. What's more, you may need to pay to have the same computers disposed of twice if...

The idea of retiring computers never seems very hard. Just send an e-mail to employees telling them to pick out what computers they'd like to buy. Whatever isn't sold could be donated to a charity or merely discarded. Those of you who have gone through the process know that it is not that simple.

Last time we wrote about how Jason Linnell of the Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse said, “Lots of smaller recyclers are in over their heads, and the risk that they might abandon their stockpiles is very real.”

It hasn't even been six months and, as part of an investigation into CRT glass recycling markets, the industry publication, E-Scrap News has learned that recycling processors in several states have abandoned operations after charging CRT

What do you do when you've been undercharging for CRT monitor recycling and are stuck with a huge warehouse of monitors that cannot be processed profitably? How about just abandoning the entire thing and let taxpayers pick up the tab.

That's what happened near Fresno, Ca. when a recycling company discovered that their glass tube monitors weren't worth as much as they thought they were.

PC Disposal recently earned its R2 Certification for responsible recycling. The R2 certification is a set of requirements and practices which reviews and verifies that a company is properly disposing electronic equipment, along with ensuring worker health and safety and proper data security practices.

While there are many legitimate and environmentally friendly electronics recycling companies available, a recent NPR story shows us that there are also many companies that might not be as honest about what they are doing with your old electronics. More often than not these items are shipped outside the US, moving the toxic waste dump from our shores to developing countries.

While recyclers do make money selling metal