Japan – EEE industry starts takeback scheme to drop-off obsolete computers for recycling

Starting in October, residents of Japan will be able to drop-off obsolete computers for recycling at any one of 20,000 post offices nationwide or have postal carriers pick up the computer at home.

Resource Recycling journal reports that Japan Post has linked up with an industry group representing 21 major computer producers, including Apple, Dell, Sony and Toshiba. The alliance represents about 95 per cent of the Japanese computer market. Japan Post will sort the computers by brand and send them to the appropriate recycling facility.

Apparently, consumers can expect to see a collection fee added to the cost of new computers; perhaps US$37 – 46 per desktop unit and US$17 – 21 for a laptop. The action follows a new federal law mandating consumer computer recycling. An earlier law implemented in 2001 required computer producers to operate a recovery programme for business computers.