Hey Aki, You are right. Arriving at a clear benchmark might be elusive. What could be classified as "E-waste" vis-a-viz, "Second hand" could be a matter of conjecture, just as what may be defined as "Disposable" or "Re-usable" Frankly speaking, it is subjective - depending on who is handling the topic. That is why once again, I would really call for the adoption of a "Multistakeholder" based approach in most of these ICT policy formulation. Let it be consultative - involving Government, policy experts, researchers, dealers, environmental experts - etcetra. An "All inclusive approach" that will go a long way to address all interested parties' concerns. I echo Evans' hailing of the "open door" policy by the PS. Let's keep the ideas alive, and not shy away from contributing for the sake of this beloved nation's progress.. I suppose, it's time we start seeing some of these important policy debates on resourceful forums such as this evolve into good legislation, to have some form of teeth. Harry _____ From: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of aki Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 5:28 PM To: harry@comtelsys.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Used Computers Hi Harry, I'll add my last general amatuer comment on this thread, corrections are welcome. :-) Wikipedia can be vague sometimes. When we talk health hazards from equipment, does it refer to radiation from CRTs? Chemicals from computers? Many who have done anything to do with electronics will know, the most unstable component is the Electrolyte Capacitor which is found in power supplies, and one unique one is found on motherboards on older computers. The rest of components, besides the main processor and memory, are sealed in a laquer layer. Even with new computers, this is the case. Both of these items pose problems when disposed. Importers of new equipment cannot say that out of every 400 new computers imported, all were fine. Maybe due to shipment, some were damaged or others had some faulty part that was not detected during the manufacturing process, is the importer going to ship the faulty units back? I hardly think so. The enviromental groups will be back at square one on this one unless long term solutions are gotten. And I think we need to remind them that a new computer is not a one time, once in a life time purchase nor are they any safer to dispose. Whether we use a computer for 2 years, then donate it to some school, the school will have to dispose/dump it at some stage. Can anyone on this list share information about the Main Frame Servers of the 80s and early 90s that used to occupy floor spaces? Where did they go from Kenyan Offices, they were cannot simply cannot have decayed and turned into dust. Kenyans have been dumping IT goods and polluting even before the used computers arrived in the market. What has changed so significantly that the used computers market is being veiwed as the polluter? Agreed machines like the early pentiums have no use nor need presence in the market, therefore it would be essential to seperate the real dumping and the genuine used computers. I hope Evans and the others in the industry can add more thoughts on this but an outright ban is not the solution. Rgds.