Jay West wrote: Is there a financially significant precious metal content to old computer equipment? When you factor in the hazardous materials disposal issues such as lead, it would seem a losing proposition. I can almost see a scrapper saying he would take everything except the boards. -chuck

On Monday 20 February 2006 10:00 pm, C. H. Dickman wrote: I had a guy who came to my shop back when that asked about scrap board, for that specific reason. I didn't have any to give him, figuring that anything I had kicking around I'd be pulling components off of, but it's no surprise. Saw a thing on TV a while back about old cell phones and such where this stuff was packed up and shipped off to China, where peasants were doing the extraction, in nasty-looking chemical brews sitting outside on the ground. One of the comments in there was how they were drastically shortening their lives by doing this stuff, but figured that it was worth it for their families. -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

It would be nice if people on this list ACTUALLY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT when it comes to scrap and the Chinese. What is being said was true - ten some odd years ago. A great deal has changed, and Chinese scrapyards are pretty damned efficient. The Chinese government/industry is not all that concerned about the people or the land, but they are concerned about money. Improvements in efficiency and yield in the scrap yard makes more money, and as a side effect, are not nearly as toxic as they used to be. For example, if they burn the insulation off wire, they burn up copper, but if they shred it, they get nearly 100 percent. Obviously, the latter method is far, far less toxic and generates much better yields. The same is true for circuit boards - grind them up into powder then sort the granules into the different materials, and very little goes up in smoke. About the only thing that is still a problem are ceramics and the base board material. And Chinese workers are happy to get the jobs. Most go to young men, as it is a way for them to get their wedding chest built up. Work in the scrapyards for two or three years, save your earnings, then find a wife. Very few make careers out of picking scrap apart. William Donzelli aw288 at osfn.org