31,500 Used Personal Computers Collected from Homes Oct.-Dec. 2003

Starting on October 1, 2003, Japan's computer manufacturers started to collect and recycle used personal computers (PCs) from homes, as called for in the Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources. On January 27, 2004, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) announced the results of its efforts from October to December, 2003. In October 2003, a total of 7,566 units were collected, in November 10,319 units were collected, up 36 percent from October, and in December, 13,649 units were collected, up 32 percent from November. In total, more than 31,500 used PCs were collected over these three months.

The estimated number of PCs discarded in fiscal 2003 was 360,000, or 90,000 per quarter. JEITA's data show that about 35 percent of these used PCs were collected by manufacturers. According to JEITA, these figures suggest that manufacturers have made a good start in collecting and recycling used PCs.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will no longer collect PCs as trash. For a fee, JEITA will collect PCs in cases designated individually by municipal governments in which no organizations can be held responsible for the computers, for example PCs assembled at home by users themselves or produced by manufacturers that have gone bankrupt or ceased operations. Meanwhile, in accordance with an amendment made to the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law on December 1, 2003, approval can now be granted to industrial sector-based organizations for general waste processing for large geographical areas.

While such approval for JEITA is pending, it is considering plans to collect used PCs on a national scale starting from April 1, 2004, charging the same fee as in Tokyo. JEITA also plans to encourage local governments to completely withdraw from collecting PCs as waste.



Posted: 2004/04/07 11:09:10 AM
Japanese version