OVER AND OVER AGAIN
Japanese law requires computer recycling

With more and more landfills becoming the final resting place for obsolete computer hardware, The Japan Times is reporting that a net law compels personal computer manufacturers to charge consumers for collection of used PCs recycling their parts.

As a big fan of recycling, E-R likes this, but feels it should be optional, not compulsory. Then again, with space at a premimum in the land of the Rising Sun, we can certainly understand why such drastic measures may need to be taken.

According to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, 24 million PCs are used in over half of Japan's households. However, the association also estimates that some 9,000 tons of home-use computers were scrapped -- the equivalent of nearly a half million units.