Lynn kids get lesson in recycled computer parts

LYNN – According to the Environmental Protection Agency, almost three quarters of computers sold in the U.S. are piling up as unused trash in our garages, closets, and warehouses.That may seem like a necessary bi-product of technology, but 14 members of the Boys and Girls Club will tell you otherwise.Converge, a specialized recycling company based in Peabody, spoke Tuesday to a group of students ages 8-10 for almost an hour about how computers work, what they are made of and how they should be properly recycled. The kids were also able to help take apart and reassemble a PC.”They were asking a lot of questions about how a computer works, especially what all the different components were for a hard drive and what they did,” said Ben Bartolomei, recreation director of the Lynn Boys and Girls Club. “Some of the kids seemed to be more interested in the technological aspect of it, but they also enjoyed learning about the recycling part too.”While teaching how parts worked, two Converge employees also told the kids how those parts can become “e-waste” and why they must be properly disposed of.”E-waste is short for electronic waste. Proper recycling of e-waste is important, because of the solid materials it is made up of like cadmium, beryllium and mercury. These chemicals have adverse effects on our land and water once it is put into the soil,” said Chris Adam, director of Converge.Such harmful chemicals will seep into groundwater after e-waste is dumped into a landfill. The EPA reports this is a widespread and often-unknown problem after recording almost 4.6 million tons of e-waste that ended up in U.S. landfills in 2000.E-waste toxins are also released into the environment is through incineration, which releases mercury into the air and can bioaccumulate in the food chain, eventually reaching the fish that we eat.Adams says that recycling is the only efficient and safe way to get rid of e-waste.”You take some raw materials going in looking like a PC, but they can come out like commonly used items we use every day,” he said. “You could bring the plastics down to their original form and use it in the production of a new PC or a water bottle.”The information session was made possible through a previously established relationship between the Lynn Boys and Girls Club and Converge. The company volunteered to remove e-waste to help the club may way for new equipment and, soon after, plans for the information session evolved.Both groups are currently looking into a recycling drive this spring that would be held at the Lynn Boys and Girls Club. The club may also allow Converge to set up a recycling site at their location in future.