PHOENIX
What do you do with that old computer when it’s outdated and no longer needed?
A group of ASU researchers and graduate students are trying to find a better answer to that question.
The team is seeking a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study where computers end up after Americans toss them out.
Some e-waste covers acres of landfills. But that’s probably not the safest or most prudent thing to do with old computers.
They’re full of nasty, toxic metals and chemicals that can pollute groundwater systems below landfills.
Still, other old computers get shipped to developing countries, where scavengers dismantle them in unsafe ways.
