Tech lover stunned after discovering valuable item in waste bin: 'One man's trash is another man's treasure'

To keep up with the demands of today's ever-evolving tech landscape, successful businesses upgrade their electronics frequently. Unfortunately, that can produce an unreasonable amount of e-waste — and not just broken machines, but perfectly usable ones that are still up to date. Lucky employees and dumpster divers can sometimes get their hands on these discards, as one tech lover did in a recent Reddit post.

What's happening?

"Hey guys I came across this pc today," said the user in their post. They shared two photos of the tower, inside and out, plus a screenshot of its specs.

There was still plastic film on the item. — Photo Credit: Reddit

Notably, the glass side of the tower still had plastic film attached to protect it.

"I noticed the plastic film is still on the case so looked near new, took it home and booted it up," said the original poster. "To my surprise this is quite a decent find."

They had big plans for the new computer, which was more powerful than their existing machine, that involved moving the GPU over. "I'm not a huge pc gamer at all and mainly use the pc for a media server," they said. "One man's trash is another man's treasure."

Why is business e-waste important?

The fact that this computer was ready to go with only an optional graphics card upgrade — and in fact, was better than the user's existing home computer — highlights how easily a valuable, working PC can be thrown away by a business that simply writes off the expense of an upgrade. The cost is passed on to consumers who pay more for the company's products and services.

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Meanwhile, many of these items end up in a landfill, seeping toxic chemicals into the soil and groundwater. At the same time, their loss creates a demand for more new units — which have to be manufactured with rare metals mined from beneath the ground, since the existing ones in the e-waste were not recycled, causing even more unnecessary pollution.

What can companies do about this?

One option is for companies to erase and then resell or give away obsolete machines instead of throwing them out. They can be donated to worthy programs like schools and libraries, or even to the families of employees.

If that fails, the machines should be recycled properly, not thrown away.

What can I do about e-waste?

If you need a new computer, buying secondhand or refurbished can help reduce the need to build new computers with new materials.If you have electronics to get rid of, you can make sure they're properly disposed of while getting cash or other incentives. Many companies offer recycling rebate programs, such as Trashie's Tech Take Back Box.