Getting rid of old computers, out-of-date cell phones or dinosaur television sets is less fun than buying new ones.

Should you just dump the old model in the trash? If you drive it somewhere to be recycled, what is your guarantee that it will be dealt with in a way that's safe for the environment?

In an era of fast-changing technology — including the impending digital conversion of television broadcasts — discarding electronic waste has become a growing issue.

This weekend in Santa Fe, a one-day, e-waste collection event is aimed at making it easy, safe and certain: keeping the junk out the landfill and making sure reusable materials are returned to the marketplace.

On Saturday, an upstart Albuquerque company will work with the city to haul away and recycle as much of the material as they can get their hands on.

Kept whole, the old equipment doesn't have much resale potential, but that changes once it is broken into its raw components.

"Cleaned and separated like we do, all this has a value," said Greg Mullen as he stood in a warehouse full of old TVs, piles of circuit boards, computers and other electronic items. "So every little component is being recycled. We take all the valuables and use them to pay for the operations."

That's the basic economic model for Albuquerque Recycling Inc., a family business formed this year. The company guarantees "end-of-life" treatment for everything collected. That means the owners promise not to send whole computers overseas or secretly drive materials to landfills.

Greg and Janet Estepp, and their son, Mullen, sell plastic computer and monitor casings to Master Fibers, a large Albuquerque facility where Greg spent part of his career in the plastics business.

Master Fibers buys pallets of the material, then squeezes it into compact bales that eventually make their way to plastics manufacturers. When the company amasses enough bales, it sends a truckload of plastic out the door. The last truckload went to Talco Plastics Inc. in Corona, Calif., said plant manager Hector Valverde. That company makes custom plastic compounds.

Other easy-to-retrieve value from e-waste is found in metals. An average television or computer monitor contains between 2.5 and 3.5 pounds of copper, all neatly wound onto an electromagnet in one spot. The electron gun that shoots the picture onto the screen is made of reusable steel.

All that makes up for the trouble of dealing with several pounds of leaded glass that make up the rest of the equipment, Mullen Estepp explains. Manufacturers won't pay for it, but some will accept it for reuse if the cost of transportation is covered. In the case of televisions, which typically contain more glass than computer monitors, a $5 fee per set covers the cost.

The company uses a proprietary method of crushing and tumbling the leaded glass. When it collects enough, that will be shipped to an Arizona fiberglass maker.

Copper and steel go to local scrap dealers, and other materials collected at the Albuquerque business go to various out-of-state companies. For example, circuit boards go to either a Texas refinery or a California recycler. Another California company accepts computer printers that go through a grinding, a mechanical separation process, according to Gary Estepp.

Collecting and recycling e-waste isn't new for Santa Fe. For years, the joint city/county transfer station off Buckman Road has been the drop-off point for residents. That facility charges a per-pound fee for e-waste but does not recycle TVs.

Electronic waste is picked up by shippers on contract with Natural Evolution Inc. Since 2004, the city and county have collected about 320 tons of computers, monitors, telephones and other gadgets that traveled by truck to the Tulsa, Okla., business.

Natural Evolution owner Traci Phillips takes pride in being part of the crowd "doing the right thing." Every year, she deals with more than 3 million pounds of material.

The industry is competitive, with brokers trading materials by the pound. It has sometimes involved unscrupulous practices leading to the kind of story exposed last year on 60 Minutes. The CBS News report showed computer circuit boards being incinerated in open barrels in a Chinese village.

The investigative report built on information that has been collected for years by a group called Basal Action Network. BAN advocates for a global standard on recycling and disposal of electronic waste to prevent pollution of such rural, poor areas — an idea the United States has yet to buy into.

Phillips said it's important for consumers to know that not every bit of recyclable material that goes to China is treated irresponsibly. Her company only uses downstream vendors that carry an international certification called ISO 140001, which includes tracking and auditing processes intended to demand accountability.

"It has been one of our priorities to make sure that none of the material that we handled was being dumped internationally. We have purposely dealt with companies that only hold the highest environmental standards," she said. "We don't deal with brokers that export scrap at all. We don't load containers and we don't ship to port cities. We are very adamant about where and how things go."

That said, her biggest customer right now is Fortune Plastic and Metal, based in Nanjing, China. The company has more than 20 processing facilities throughout the United States, Mexico and Hong Kong, and is a major player in the industry.

The economics are based on numbers, Phillips said. "From a global perspective and a market demand, ultimately the demand is in China and India for scrap materials because of the growth that they have," she said. "They have more of their people now wanting cars and TVs and new materials like the U.S. So it's unreasonable to think that all recycled materials are going to stay in the U.S."

Absent plans for reuse, electronics pose a threat to the environment if the items end up in landfills or dumped in the open. A recent report from the U.S. General Accounting Office says e-waste is one of the worst growing waste-management issues.

"Without effective phase outs of hazardous chemicals and the development of effective collection reuse and recycling systems," the report reads, "highly toxic chemicals found in electronics will continue to contaminate the soil and groundwater as well as pollute the air, posing a threat to wildlife and people."

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.

IF YOU GO

What: E-Waste Recycling Drop-off Day

When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday

Where: 1142 Siler Road

What: Computers, monitors, laptop computers, LCD screens, stereos, cell phones and printers are all accepted for free. Televisions are accepted for a charge of $5. Appliances such as microwave ovens and bread machines are not accepted.

CAN'T MAKE IT SATURDAY?

The regional Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station accepts e-waste regularly, charging about 2 cents per pound. An average desktop computer that weighs 40 pounds costs less than $1 to drop off.

The facility accepts computers and all related equipment: monitors, printers, fax machines, copiers, scanners, plotters, peripherals, telecommunication equipment, servers, phone systems, security equipment, UPS systems, cell phones and videocassette recorders.

Televisions, which go to the landfill and are not recycled, cost about $5.25 if you deliver them in a car.

Call 820-0208 for more information.

PLANNING TO UPGRADE?

This month, the Best Buy retail chain rolled out its own recycling program. Most electronics can be dropped off for free, with a limit of 2 per household per day. For televisions, computer monitors or notebook computers, customers pay a $10 fee and receive a $10 gift card. Best Buy does not accept console televisions larger than 32 inches. The company also requests that customers remove computer hard drives.

Company spokeswoman Kelly Goehler said Best Buy has recycling contracts with downstream vendors who agree to be audited and who follow environmental guidelines.

"E-waste is the largest growing waste stream in the world, and we are the largest retailer of consumer electronics," she said. "So we have a responsibility to help consumers who are coming to us for help with new technology to give them good responsible choices for getting rid of their old technology."