So, you're on the Carbon reduction bandwagon. Your employer or kids want to be "seen to be Green". Even if you don't agree with it, recycling your old hardware does have ethical and environmentally sound aspects that will impact locally- probably more than you think. Here's some points for you to consider:

• CRT Monitors contain lead, arsenic, Phosphorous (all poisonous and will remain in concentrated form when disposed of in the ground)
• TFT screens contain Mercury in the Cold flourescent tubes
• Printed Circuit boards contain PCBs and lead.
• Oh and there's some arsenic in there somewhere.

Basically, you etiher recycle your old computers or they end up in landfill. In landfill, you give your kids a mess to clean up and polluted ground water to extract and drink. Recycling (if done right) ensures that prices in metals slow their steady hike and we leave some resources for our children to play with. Okay, now we've got that over with, here's what you need from your recycling partner:

• A Limited Liability company status at the very least
• Licensing with the Environmental Protection Agency. This means that their processes are approved for Computer Recycling.
• No use of Landfill. If a recycler says this can't be done, then you're not getting a good level of service. Everything from a computer, printer, scanner, monitor and even phones and faxes can be refined back into plastic or metal.
• Non export- a lot (and we mean a lot) of hardware is exported to China, India, Africa and Pakistan, where the resource extraction process and refurbishment process is uncontrolled.
• Data Destruction- check this very carefully. Identity theft is on the increase and some of this is due to a rise in computer hardware being recycled poorly. Don't just delete the files you want to remove. You need to eradicate them completely.
• You may want to cut the carbon footprint further as well. Make sure your chosen I.T disposal expert is based local to Melbourne.