Difference between revisions of "Outsourcing Recycling"

Revision as of 06:41, 8 October 2008

Why are these people taking these boxes out the back door?

Free Geek partners with different organizations and schools to provide volunteer opportunities to people who cannot work at Free Geek's facility. These volunteers provide recycling services in their workshops, and the organization keeps track of the hours volunteers work. Volunteers are also eligible to receive FreekBoxen. A special class might have to be arranged for them to receive their training.

What canNOT be taken off site

Because of Free Geek's data security promise to donors, no media that might contain readable data can be taken off site. This includes floppy disks, data tapes, and hard drives. Video tapes from Multnomah Public Library are OK (and approved by MPL) because they are assumed to not contain data that Free Geek must ensure remains secure.

Anything donated by the general public that is recordable should not be taken off site. This includes, video tapes, cassettes, floppies, and any other storage devices such as tapes, cartridges, flash drives, etc.

As of 2008-05-14, there is an ongoing discussion about data tapes being OK to send offsite because they might be unreadable without both the right tape drive & software.

When in doubt - don't let it out.

What CAN be recycled off site, and how it's done

Here's are the common items that we send out to be recycled. Following each item is a list of what it's broken down into. Many groups need this as a reference for how they should divide up the output of their recycling.

Keyboards
- Plastic
- Steel (remove rods from longer keys, screws, plates)
- Filmy plastic/Rubbery sheet (jellyfish-like)
- Circuit boards
- Wires/cables

Network Devices
- Plastic (remove all LEDs, wires, switches, etc)
- Steel (screws, etc)
- Circuit boards
- Wires/cables

Daughter Cards
- Cards
- Steel (screws, faceplates)
- Aluminum (heat sinks)
- Fans
- Batteries (occasional button batteries)

Floppy Drives (aluminum chassis only)
- Aluminum
- Steel (covers, screws, etc)
- Circuit boards (controller card)
- Misc (motors, plastic/steel mix, cable/wire)

Mt. Hood Community College Project Enterprise

contact: Susan Spencer (503) 256-0432 x22231
- drop off day: TBD
- what they take:
  - Keyboards

MESD

confirmed for 08/09

Multnomah Education Service District Vocational School (Pathways)
- contact: Bill Hjelseth or Sam 503-262-4000
- drop off day: Thursday
- what they take:
  - floppy drives
  - cards (to remove steel face plate)
  - heatsink-fan combos
  - modems and hubs that are easy to take apart
- what they can't take:
  - CDs or jewelcases

Rainier ESD