[Tfug] WC Recycling [VERY long :< ]

[Bexley Hall]

Hi,

I'd been planning on writing this -- the recent
discussion seems to suggest that this might be 
the best time to do so...

As with all my posts, it tends to be long-winded :>
(heh heh heh...)

But, hopefully it gives folks a view into how
WorldCare operates as well as its shortcomings.
Perhaps it will inspire some of you to consider
donating some time to help us in our efforts.
Or, pique your curiosity enough to drop in to
see the magnitude of our effort.  It may also
motivate you to consider us for equipment and/or
monetary donations from you or your EMPLOYER.

WorldCare receives material donations 6-days a
week at their 30,000? sq ft. facility on Ellington
Road (the old Keene elementary school).  These
donations typically come in from private
individuals, corporations, hospitals, etc.

The goal is to divert material from landfills.
This is done by RE-USE and/or RECYCLING.  The
former reintroduces items to the "consumer"
while the latter routes them to third-party
partners who extract the recyclable materials
for reintroduction to *manufacturers*.

[WorldCare also harvests some small portion of
the donation stream to help finance operations.
These items are resold on eBay, to local and
foreign buyers by a broker, or to the public via
their small store.  Monies from these sales pay
for utilities, the few paid staff members, any
supplies as well as other operating expenses.]

"Recycle" is the key concept, here.  Items that
can find continued use "as is" (i.e., after being
cleaned up, minor repairs, etc.) are put back into
service *somewhere* in the world.  Items that have
reached the end of their useful life are processed
to reclaim as much of their reusable content as is
practical (given the staffing available).

Donated items are received at the rear of the
building where donors "drive up" and "drop off".
There, all of the items are classified by "type"
(medical, computers, clothing, etc.) and then
weighed.  Note the weight of *individual* items
is unimportant.  Rather, the goal is to record
how much of each *type* of item is being received.

It would be a monumental effort to try to assign
a dollar value to each donation.  Yet, tracking
them by *some* means is necessary as it gives us
a way to report (to our donors) the "volume" of
material processed.  As those donations are
processed and ultimately "redistributed", we can
track where the material has gone (i.e., how much
was reused for disaster relief, redistributed to
local charities, recycled for raw materials, etc.)

To put things in perspective:  2,000,000 pounds of
goods were processed in 2006 (I haven't seen the
numbers for 2007, yet).  That's an *average* of
3.5 *tons* each day.  Every day.  Of course, that
doesn't *directly* reflect the days when a 10- or
20-ton truckload is received!

Having been weighed, the items are examined with
an eye towards their *likely* disposition.  Items
that can potentially be returned to use filling a
need locally or abroad are examined to determine
the extent of repair and reconditioning necessary
to do so.  Items that are considerably damaged or
otherwise impractical to REUSE are diverted for
more traditional RECYCLING.

Since computers are a familiar topic here, they
make a good example.  Each computer is evaluated
for possible REUSE by noting, among other things:
- processor family
- processor *vintage*
- cosmetic condition
- peripherals available
- other distinctive features
- special *requirements*
This is by no means an exact science.  Manpower
and "storage space" being dynamic issues, means
the criteria applied *today* may well differ from
those applied *yesterday*.

As expected, there is a big bias towards x86 "PC's"
in WorldCare's efforts.  They are the machines most
commonly *used* by our "clients".  And, the machines
most commonly *donated*.  So, while a NeXT cube may
raise some eyebrows as an incoming donation, it
probably *won't* find itself a candidate for re-use;
there just isn't that much demand for it!

OTOH, if a Sun E10K happened to show up, there is
enough "Value" there that we would divert resources
to finding a new home for it.

While there are, no doubt, many places around the
world that would welcome even an old "386-class"
computer, these (yes, we still receive donations of
old machines of this vintage) typically are routed
directly to the "recycle" pile.  We just don't have
the manpower or *space* (to store) machines that
old when there are so many *newer* machines donated
each day!

Machines that may be reusable except for cosmetic
damage are examined with an eye for how readily
their components can be fitted to other "cases".
We might, for example, remove a Pentium motherboard
from a machine with a "nice" case and replace it
with a P4 from a "cosmetically challenged" machine.

A computer with a particularly attractive set of
peripherals might warrant special attention.  A
machine with a DVD writer would be notable -- even
if the machine itself isn't desirable, the *drive*
still is! As such, the machine might be recycled
with an eye for reclaiming that drive!

Some computers have other "special features" that
might merit attention.  Software licenses affixed to
machines allow us to reinstall that particular
software on the machine prior to redistributing it.
This saves us the cost of purchasing new licenses.
Or, a machine might have an unusual I/O capability
(e.g., video editing hardware) that elevates its 
importance.

OTOH, some otherwise attractive machines may impose
special *requirements* that confound our ability to
reuse them.  For example, machines that require RAMBUS
memory must meet a relatively *higher* threshold to
be reused (vs. recycled) since that memory is in short
supply (unless, of course, the machine has a nice
complement of it installed already!).  The same is
true of DDR memory.  Or, laptops with odd power packs
(that might not have accompanied the donation  :< )

Note that we'll freely mix and match keyboards, mice,
monitors, etc. with machines if the "original" part
is not available (or, perhaps, not reusable).  This
is especially true of machines destined abroad as it
is problematic to keep *specific* parts together
when you may be shipping 100 "systems" in a batch.

Machines that are ultimately considered for reuse are
tested for *basic* functionality.  Major subassemblies
are replaced (where possible) -- swapping out a power
supply, defective disk drive, flakey memory, etc.
Machines that can NOT be *readily* repaired in this
way tend to migrate to the recycle pile -- unless
they are *very* attractive (e.g., we will spend a
fair bit of time to repair a 3GHz P4... but, not as
much to repair a 500MHz P3!).

The checklist for these tests is (regretably) quite
short.  An appropriate amount (depends on the caliber
of the machine) of memory of the appropriate "flavor"
is installed.  A "wiped" and reformatted hard drive
is installed with just "COMMAND.COM" present.  We
verify that the machine boots to the "C:" prompt
(sometimes, this requires twiddling BIOS settings).
The CD-ROM is tested -- usually by just verifying
that "DIR D:\ /s" *appears* to work.  Of course, the
keyboard port and monitor port are "tested" as a
consequence of needing them to perform these other
actions.

There are countless other things that are not truly
"tested" in the sense that a manufacturer might test
them:  comprehensive memory tests, printer port, 
serial port, USB ports, etc.  We simply don't have
the time to do this for the quantity of machines
that we process (I wrote a tool to do this for a
friend but using it at WC is just not logistically
possible; you need a place to set up the machines
for the duration of the test -- which is quite a
thorough/lengthy process  :<  And, with dozens of 
machines to test at any given time... <shrug>)

I can typically "test" four machines in an hour.
This is mainly driven by the time required for all
the "busy-work":  fetching the machine, the parts
necessary to "flush it out", doing the tests, give
the machine a quick cleaning, remove any identifying
labels from the case (as well as any identifiers
that may buried in the BIOS), "tag" it as tested
(along with a summary of its contents) and then
carry it to the storage room.

Of course, this assumes things go in my favor!  :>
Working on particular machines which we have in
*abundance* helps keep things moving quickly -- if
I have a problem with one machine, I can steal a
part from *another* (identical) machine to finish
it instead of having to set it aside partially
completed.  Usually, the machines "basically work"
or have *obvious* problems (e.g., the donor may
have removed the hard drive prior to donating it).

OTOH, sometimes "The Bear wins" and you don't get
much of anything done in an entire *day*!  It is
very difficult to resist the urge to hammer away
at one particular problem for hours at a time.
Instead, you have to remember that there are 200
machines sitting out in the hallway and another
couple of dozen coming in throughout the day.
So, is this machine *really* worth the time you
are putting into it??  :<

The hope is that anything "broken" is *obviously*
broken!  I.e., if a machine has a thermal problem,
it likely WON'T show up in this brief test  :<

We don't spend much time making labor intensive
repairs -- even if they may be "simple".  For
example, replacing a defective plug (VGA) on a
monitor -- the time required (before you could
even *test* the monitor to determine if it is 
truly functional) could better be spent testing
five or six *other* monitors that *don't* have
defective plugs!

OTOH, we'll spend the time to swap out a defective
power supply or replace a CD-ROM drive that has died.

The same sort of evaluation and processing occurs
with each type of donated item -- medical equipment,
clothing, text books, etc.  The items are evaluated
and then processed accordingly.  The underlying
emphasis is keeping things out of the *trash* and
finding new homes where they can find continued *use*!

For example, text books are redistributed to school
teachers and school districts for, essentially,
their cost of shipping.  Medical supplies and
instruments are processed and redistributed as
needed to individuals and organizations, world-wide
to satisfy their ongoing needs as well as disaster
relief.  Computers are refurbished and distributed
to schools and children in need.

For more details -- and a more eloquent description
of the organization -- go to http://worldcare.org.

"Recycling" is an equally labor-intensive activity.
Unlike the City's curbside recycling program where
you just dump everything into a barrel and rely on
someone *else* to sort it all out, *we* play the
"someone else" role!

So, for example, "recycling" a computer involves
dismantling it.  A dismantled computer would be
processed as:
- sheet metal chassis
- plastic parts
- wiring harnesses and cables
- disk drives (which can be scrubbed and reused)
- floppy drive (processed as "scrap metal")
- memory, processor, motherboard
- power supply
Each of these things are processed differently by
our recycling partners.

Even the paperwork accompanying a computer gets
recycled!  The paper products are separated and
recycled as "paper goods".  The box or binder that
they typically come in is recycled as "cardboard".
The floppies, CD's, etc. are treated as "plastic".

Thankfully, this sort of activity is essentially
*mindless* -- you'd be amazed at how quickly you 
and unconciously do this type of sorting!  :>

<shrug> Some of us consider it a worthwhile way
to spend a portion of our time.  Perhaps some of
*you* might, as well!?  Drop by sometime to get
a feel for just how *big* of an operation this
is and how much *more* could be done!  I suspect that
if there is a "significant" interest, Joe (or I) could
be coaxed into giving a tour to a *group* (doing
one person at a time eats up a lot of time  :< )

Thanks!
--don


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