Recycling Opportunities

Recycling Opportunities,devices not fit for reuse, or unused components from repair, refurbishment or upgrade operations, should be disassembled and processed for recovery of raw materials in an environmentally sound manner. Scrap metal prices have soared in recent years due to shortages caused by increased consumption of raw materials.

PCs contain valuable ferrous (e.g. iron),non-ferrous (e.g. aluminum, copper) and precious (e.g. gold, palladium,silver, indium, gallium) metals that can be obtained from dismantling computer cases, frames, wires, cables and other components. The rising value of these materials makes recycling more economically viable and attractive

Social and Economic Benefits of Reuse

Social and Economic Benefits of Reuse,there are significant opportunities for local businesses seeking to recover the value in used and end-of-use PCs and related equipment. When old ICT equipment becomes obsolete, or is simply broken, ineffective or no longer wanted, it could still have economic value and should be managed appropriately at end-of-use. After a used PC is collected from its formerowner, reuse is the preferred first treatment option, as it can allow for more users of the device at a lower cost, extend the return on the energy and resources involved in the manufactured product, and prevent the device from entering the waste stream. Reuse may require repair, refurbishment or upgrade if necessary.

Direct reuse and refurbishment have numerous social benefits as they allow the poorest people to have access to ICT at a lower cost. The United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Number 8 identifies the need for cooperation with the private sector to «make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication».ICT can serve as a powerful tool for poverty reduction and the overall achievement of the MDGs, accelerating development progress through (i) increased market access, efficiency and competitiveness, (ii) improved social inclusion of isolated populations, and (iii) political empowerment. In the field of education, ICT can provide distance learning, teacher training,greater availability of educational curriculum and improved administration. Greater access to ICT can provide remote health care services, improved patient information systems, and access to research and training.

ICT can combat gender inequality and improve environmental sustainability,when harnessed and used effectively. However, when exporting used ICT equipment to developing countries or countries with economies in transition, consideration should be given to the need to ensure that environmentally sound solutions for the final disposal of end-of-life equipment are in place in the destination countries. For example, used ICT should be tested and certified to be really functional before they are exported and a control and testing system must also be available in the importing countries to prevent the transfer of ICT equipment that is not functional and therefore is a waste product.

Cycle of Use and Disposition

Cycle of Use and Disposition, as countries gain the benefits of increased access to information technology, they also face challenges in managing electronic products at their end-of-use. While recent studies have shown that ICT equipment makes up a small percentage of the overall compositional breakdown for waste electrical and electronic equipment in many countries (e.g. 8% in the EU in 2005), there are significant opportunities to capture value in used and end-of-use PCs and related equipment. 

Awareness and interest from consumers in efficient new technologies will continue to drive inefficient and old equipment into disuse, opening opportunities for recycling entrepreneurs.

Global Technology Revolution

Global Technology Revolution, countries around the globe are rapidly gaining increased access to information technology, spurred on in part by surging domestic economies and the recognition by consumers of the benefits of access to information and global communication. Annual global mobile phone sales first topped one billion in 2006 and are likely to do so again in 2008.

It is 27 years since the advent of the personal home computer and one billion PCs will be in use worldwide in 2008. Remarkably, over the next five years, this number is estimated to increase to two billion. According to a study (Forrester Research Inc.), Brazil, Russia, India and China will have more than 775 million new PCs by 2015, with China going from 55 million in 2007 to 500 million by 2015.

Important Issues For Consideration in Recycling

This introduces issues relating to electronic recycling initiatives and gives general information required for starting such an initiative. It discusses the growth of the electronic market, the challenges and opportunities associated with reuse and recycling, and the international regulatory framework. In addition, it furnishes arguments for the creation of recycling companies and describes the value chain of a electronic recycling business.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) continues to bring new opportunities to individuals and communities which are able to harness the potential of such technology as an empowering and life enhancing tool.One opportunity associated with ICT is the potential for local entrepreneurs to develop businesses for the refurbishment and recycling of used ICT equipment.

This guide is intended to provide local entrepreneurs with a blueprint for the establishment of a business capable of receiving used PCs and related equipment. It will also provide guidance on how to manage such equipment in a profitable and environmentally sound manner, while ensuring worker health and safety.

Recycling of Gold

Recycling of gold and other valuable metals from electronic devices at the end of life (WEEE) has a significant potential impact on the sustainable supply of gold and other metals to meet the needs of our modern society. In addition, gold has a vital role to play in the economics of recycling such scrap. Thus, a ‘design for recycling’ approach is needed in specifying materials used in new equipment manufacture by OEMs, especially gold.

Thus, gold is the ‘paying metal’ that triggers recovery of other scarce precious and special metals that otherwise would not be economic to recover.Such an approach needs to be combined with innovative business models that encourage a more comprehensive collection of consumer goods at their end of life.

There are legal requirements in Europe for a ‘closed loop’ recycling system under the EU WEEE Directive, but currently this is far from the reality. Too much scrap is exported and poorly recycled, with a consequential damaging impact on environment and local communities. This loophole needs to be closed. Governments and manufacturers of electronic products have a major role to play here in encouraging efficient collection systems and in enforcing existing legislation.

Recycling Precious Metals

The Challenges in Recycling Precious Metals from WEEE.There are several stages involved in the recycling of WEEE , and the overall recovery rate will depend on the efficiency and effectiveness of each stage. The high precious metal yields achieved in the recovery stage, if state-of-the-art technologies are used, are insignificant if only a low proportion of WEE is collected or there is a large loss of gold in the dismantling and pre-processing stages. Today, less than 20% of the gold recycling potential is being realised from European WEEE due to the inefficiencies of the initial stages of the process chain.

The collection stage is the weakest part of the chain. There is still a long way to go in Europe, and in many other countries, in organising efficient collection. Governments have a major part to play here and must take this aspect seriously.

The biggest loss factor currently is that much WEEE is exported to countries in Asia and Africa, for example, for treatment or just for discarding. Such scrap is usually treated by low-tech ‘backyard’ recycling methods that have dramatic environment and health impacts on workers and local communities. Moreover, treatments are highly inefficient in terms of metals recovery,often focusing on ‘cherry-picking’ a few valuable metals; even for gold, yields are often lower than 25%.

Supply and Demand for Gold

Meet the supply and demand for gold by e-reycling.The electronic use of gold at around 300tpa amounts to about 12% of the total annual mine production of gold. Its efficient recovery from electronic scrap (WEEE) therefore represents a substantial potential recycling resource. 

If we take the case of mobile hones, for example, global sales of 1,300 million in 2008 equates to about 31 tonnes of gold, 325t of silver, 12t of palladium and 12,000t of copper. With batteries, an additional 4,600t of cobalt can be added.

Taking cumulative sales of mobiles up to 2008,this increases to 170t of gold, 1,800t of silver and 70t of palladium. If we add the sales of PCs and laptops, these potential supplies of precious metals equate to a significant proportion of total mine production: 4% for gold, 3% for silver,16% for palladium, 20% for cobalt and <1% for copper. For the broader electronics market, the market supply is more substantial.

The Composition of Electronic Equipment

The materials contained in scrap electronic equipment are large in number and value; some are valuable and some are toxic or hazardous. Typical chemical elements found include:Precious metals such as gold, silver and palladium, and to a lesser extent, platinum and ruthenium

1. Base and special metals such as iron,copper, aluminium, nickel, zinc, tin, cobalt, indium, gallium and selenium

2. Hazardous metals such as mercury,beryllium, cadmium, arsenic and antimony

3. Halogens – bromine, fluorine and chlorine

4. Other substances such as organics/plastics, glass and ceramics.

If such scrap is landfilled or not treated in an environmentally sound way, then it poses a high risk of environmental damage. The valuable materials that it contains are not recovered and reused, and so this increases the need to mine new metals from primary resources.

Table.1

Typical compositions of a number of electronic items are shown in the upper part of Table 1. We should note that these figures are indicative; actual content can vary significantly but the magnitude is correct. In terms of weight, plastics and steel tend to dominate, but in terms of value, the lower part of Table 1, gold and the other precious metals dominate.

Gold and other precious metals makes up more than 80% of the value in PC boards, cell phones and calculators, and around 50% of the value in TV boards and DVDs. We note copper is next in value terms.

Hence, it is very evident that any net decrease in precious metal content substantially reduces the net recoverable value from the electronic scrap and, thus, the motivation to recycle scrap. It is worth noting that the complete recycling chain needs to be renumerated, as Hagelüken and Corti discuss in their paper.

The recycling requirements – technical processes and emission controls – depend on the composition of the scrap, and taking the various values between types of scrap into account, means that the mixing of different types of scrap in the collection and pre-processing stages can influence the recycling returns in a negative manner.

Gold’s Importance to The Economics of Recovery

Recovery of gold and other valuable metals from such scrap involves a complex metallurgical flowsheet and requires state-of-the-art recovery technologies that are available in large-scale, integrated smelter-refinery operations. At the Umicore plant in Belgium,for example, pure gold and 16 other metals are recovered with high yields. Perhaps what is not adequately appreciated is that the recovery of gold is important to the economics of recycling electronic scrap. It is the gold that makes the recovery of all the valuable metals economically worthwhile.

Thus a ‘design for recycling’ approach to the use of gold in electronic equipment assumes an importance when material choices are being made by OEMs; simply seeking use of cheaper alternative materials as substitutes for gold can damage the economics of recycling devices at the end of their life. One needs to take the complete life cycle costs into account at the design stage.

The European Directive on Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) aims to provide a ‘closed loop’ economy, that is, to foster environmentally sound reuse and recycling, and to preserve natural resources. This is about sustainability of resources.

However, in Europe and elsewhere, there are currently severe deficits in the recycling chain that hinder the achievement of a high overall recovery rate of gold and other metals. This is due in part to substandard processing of scrap in many ‘backyard’ recycling operations, often through the illegal and dubious export of end-of-life electronics to many developing/transition countries around the world. There is also an environmental impact, as discussed below. We should also note that recycling of WEEE in the EU and elsewhere has become a legal requirement.

Response to the e-Waste Problem

Response to the e-Waste Problem.When communities became aware of the volumes of lead being placed in their sanitary landfills, they grew concerned. Some communities passed laws to encourage recycling and alternative waste management activities. Some banned such waste from landfills; others supported e-waste recycling.

About a quarter of the states passed laws treating CRTs as universal wastes. The universal waste rules are clear and simple standards for managing widely distributed hazardous wastes where the full hazardous waste requirements would be overly burdensome. The intent of the universal waste rules is to get hazardous waste out of the sanitary waste stream but without the rigorous requirements protections intended for industrial process wastes at factories and similar facilities. Essentially, the universal waste rules are a middle-ground between the household and conditional exempt generator rules, which exempts waste from controls and the full RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste rules. EPA has established universal waste rules for items such as mercury thermostats, spent lead-acid batteries, unused pesticides, mercury thermostats and fluorescent lamps. An EPA advisory group that included state, federal, and environmental and industry representatives recommended to EPA that CRTs be added to the universal waste program to ensure responsible recycling. However, we have learned that instead of requiring universal waste protections, EPA plans to finalize regulations that essentially deregulate these wastes if sent to domestic recyclers. EPA’s proposed exemption from RCRA for CRT glass, if followed by the states, would represent a regrettable rollback in environmental protection.

The universal waste requirements that some states have in place for computers and CRTs provide for proper packaging, labeling, and tracking of shipments of CRTs sent and received to prevent illegal dumping and ensure legitimate recycling. The requirements also include notifying state regulatory officials of CRT waste management activities to allow necessary inspections and compliance. These requirements are appropriate and not unduly burdensome for companies engaged in the commercial collection, processing, and recycling of this type of hazardous waste. The practical and sensible approach is for EPA to apply universal waste standards to all CRT glass destined for recycling at the point of commercial collection. Other electronic waste, including computer hardware and cell phones should likewise be regulated under universal waste rules. The universal waste rules were promulgated for just this type of waste. Those who may argue that deregulation will lead to more recycling may be right. But such unregulated recycling will inevitably lead to improper recycling, taxpayer financed cleanups and public cynicism of recycling. These costs will dwarf the benefits of the possible chance of some increased recycling.

The risks are not imaginary. At the State Hazardous Waste Conference in 2002, many state regulators described the recycling industry as a “low-profit, risky business” with high turnover rates and inadequate insurance. The state regulators cited cases where low cost recyclers were merely sham operations that collected wastes fees, with no intention of doing any recycling. Many of these facilities have since gone out of business leaving contaminated sites for state agencies to clean up. One example occurred in Phelps County, Missouri. According to media reports, The Missouri Department of Revenue found 15,000 abandoned computer monitors. The DNR found someone was running a "computer recycling" business out of a rented building on the property. The owner of the business reportedly told customers he would take the monitors and dispose of them properly. Instead, state investigators say the man took the monitors, the cash and left. Hot sun melted the plastic coverings and rain can cause the lead to run-off into the soil and groundwater. It cost Missouri taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up the mess. By proposing to exclude CRT glass recycling from RCRA and the universal waste rule, EPA would be aiding and abetting this problem.

Despite EPA’s approach, many generators of computer wastes want recyclers to have some “Good Housekeeping” seal of approval. EPA responded by establishing fairly good guidelines in the document Plug-In to eCycling Guidelines for Materials Management. However, these Guidelines are only voluntary and their effectiveness as opposed to a promulgated universal waste standard is unconvincing.

Gold in Industrial Applications

Gold plays an increasingly important role in industrial applications,particularly in electronics, despite its larger use in jewellery and investment products. As the annual statistics show (Gold Survey 2010, GFMS Ltd, London), some 300t or more of gold are used annually in electronic components such as ICs, contacts and circuitry, the latter notably as gold bonding wire.

Sales growth of electronic devices continues to boom and their in-built features continue to become ‘smarter and quicker’ each year, which has led to a substantial net increase in gold demand over recent years, even though specific gold content is being driven down due to thrifting and miniaturisation.

At the end of their use, electronic and other electrical product scrap offer an important recycling potential for the secondary supply of gold into the market. With gold concentrations reaching 300-350 g/t for mobile phone handsets and 200-250 g/t for computer circuit boards, this scrap is an ‘urban mine’ that is significantly richer in gold than the sources of the primary ores today.

However, as a forthcoming paper points out (C. Hagelüken and C.W. Corti, Gold Bulletin, vol 43 (3,) 2010), the ‘mineralology’ of such scrap products is very different to those of primary ores. Such scrap contains up to 60 different chemical elements that are intimately interlinked in complex assemblies and sub-assemblies. They are usually associated with organic materials that often incorporate halogenated flame retardants. Thus, specialised metallurgical processes with extensive offgas treatments are required to recover the gold and a wide range of other valuable metals in a cost-effective and environmentally sound way.

Equally importantly, the collection of such scrap from millions of households and businesses requires organised logistics to collect and bring the scrap to the recovery and refining facilities; this is undoubtedly a bigger challenge than the primary ore supply chain.

List of Companies that Recycle Computers and Electronic Scrap in USA

This is List of Companies that Recycle Computers and Electronic Scrap in United States

Updated March 22, 2006

Note: Companies Serving Individuals & Companies Listed First, Then Companies Serving Only Businesses, and Finally the “Faker” Companies

Companies Serving Homeowners, Businesses & Corporations

5R Processors, Inc., 2445 St. Mountain-Lithonia Rd., Lithonia GA 30058. www.5rprocessors.com. Email: bdennee@5rltd.com, or 770-482-1744. Bonnie Dennee. Will accept small lots delivered by individuals. Monitors: $7.50. Can arrange for pickup of large lots.

Accent Computer Brokers & Asset Recovery, Inc. 679 Pine Valley Rd., SW. Mableton GA 30126 (no Web site). Email: dp.@mindspring.com, [NOTE: there’s a “dot” after dp in the e-mail address.] or 770-944-9710. David Powell. Accept electronic equipment from individuals and businesses. Do not accept TVs.

AERC Recycling, Inc. 120 Willingham Dr., Bolingbroke GA 31004. 478-994-8116. http://www.aercrecycling.com/computer/ Bonnie B. Clark. Email: bbishopclark@aercrecycling.com. Accept most used electronic equipment from businesses and homes, charges based on item’s weight. TVs accepted. [NOTE: company also recycles mercury (thermometers, thermostats, fluorescent bulbs) and ballasts.]

Allegiance Enterprises, Inc. 220 Avenue C, Carrollton GA 30117. 770 834-4056.

www.allegianceenterprises.com Gary Blanks, garyblanks@bellsouth.net Corporate pick-ups throughout the Southeast; daily pickups in metro Atlanta. To schedule a pick-up call Gary Blanks, 770-846-2094. Any business or household can drop off at the Carrollton location, Monday-Friday, 8 am-4:30pm. Do not accept TVs.

Atlanta Recycling Solutions, LLC. 1026 Windward Ridge Pkwy., Alpharetta GA 30005. (no Web site) 678-566-6665. Email: dloxsom@arsrecycle.com. David Loxsom or David McCleskey. Can recycle and destruct all electronic equipment, including TVs. Provide asset tag removal, data and disc destruction, recycling certification.

BoxQ, Inc. 470 Great Southwest Parkway, Atlanta GA 30336. www.boxq.net 404-505-7967. Email: boxq@bellsouth.net. Vince Galbato, owner. Accept all e-scrap, including TVs, cell phones and batteries, from homeowners & businesses. Charge for some things; pay for others. Call for details.

Collective Good. 4508 Bibb Blvd., Suite B-10, Tucker GA 30082. http://www.collectivegood.com/ 770-856-9021. Seth Heine, Pres. seth@collectivegood.com Recycle cell phones, pagers, PDAs. See Web site for details.

Computer Recycling by Zentech. 1429 Mayson St., Atlanta GA 30324. www.zentech.org. Email: info@zentech.org or 404-438-6924. Julian Powell. Provide computer recycling service for individuals and businesses. $10 charge for monitors, PCs, printers, and UPSs. Also accept TVs, VCRs, audio components. See Web site for details. Corporate pick-up service available.

Imaging Specialty Co., Inc. 5311 Dividend Dr., Decatur GA 30035. www.imagingspecialty.com 770-808-2155. Email: imagingspecialty@mindspring.com Larry Lancaster. Accept printers and PCs from businesses and gov’ts. Call for info on pick-up arrangements for large volume. Drop-offs by homeowners OK, but no TVs.

Leapfrog Services, Inc. 1605 Chantilly Dr., Suite 300, Atlanta GA 30324.

http://www.ribbit.net/recycle-computers.html. John Wiley. 404-870-2122. Email: John.Wiley@ribbit.net. Company will accept computers and peripherals only from businesses and homeowners. No TVs accepted. See Web site for details.

MicroSeconds, Inc. #1. 6427 Roswell Rd. NW, Sandy Springs GA 30328. www.microseconds.net Mike Gerges, Mgr. 404-252-7221. Email: sandysprings@microseconds.net. Company buys and sells PCs and all related peripherals from homeowners and large and small businesses.

MicroSeconds, Inc. #2. 3505 Gwinnett Place Dr., Duluth GA 30096.

www.microseconds.net. 770-232-1011. Email: Duluth@microseconds.net

Company buys and sells PCs and all related peripherals from homeowners and large and small businesses.

MOLAM Inc., 925 Industrial Park Drive, Marietta GA 30062. www.molam.net. Email: nader@molam.net or 770-420-5202 x221. Nader Nejad. The only EPA-approved electronics recycling facility in GA. Recycle electronics, computers, laptops, and cell phones etc., free. $3 charge for printers, monitors and batteries. $7 charge for TVs. You can drop off or they arrange pick-up $95 per 24-foot truck in metro Atlanta.

MTSG Recycling. 4507 Mills Pl. SW, Suite L, Atlanta GA 30336. www.mtsgrecycling.com. Email: info@mtsgrecycling.com, or 404-696-4551. Raymond Brewer. Will accept from homeowners; charge by the pound. Provide complete asset management for corporations. See Web site for details.

Royal Computer Services, Inc. 1375 Weber Industrial Dr., Cumming GA 30041 www.royalcomputerservices.com. Email: jim@royalcomputerservices.com, or 770-475-3174 x21. Jim Finch. Specialize in demanufacturing, repair, and sales. Will accept from homeowners. Charge $20 per complete PC; $8 per monitor only. TVs not accepted.

Companies Serving Only Businesses & Corporations

Asset Waste Management & Recycling. 212 First St., Ft. Oglethorpe GA 30742. www.assetwmr.com Email: customerservice@assetwmr.com or 877-858-5685. Lamar Bearden, Pres. Prefer tractor-trailer loads from OEMs, distributors, large corporations, etc. May be able to pick up. Monitors: $7 charge; not accepted if glass CRT is broken.

Atlanta Computer Liquidation. 4851 GA Hwy 85, Suite 315, Forest Park GA 30297. www.atlantacomputer.net Email: aclsales@atlantacomputer.net or 404-767-9288. Danny Boyles. Refurbish and sell whole units and components.

Atlantix Global Systems. 1 Sun Court, Norcross GA 30092. Bill Woerner, Pres. www.atlantixglobal.com. Email: sales@atlantixglobal.com or 770-248-7700. Company specializes in buying, refurbishing, and reselling servers from IBM, Sun Microsystems, H-P, Compaq and Cisco.

Bizmarts. 1063 Marietta Rd, Canton GA 30114. www.bizmarts.com. 770-345-4663 -or

678-522-3012 Email: rpressl@bizmarts.com. Richard Pressl, owner. Requires a minimum of 10 pieces. Free pickup available. Processes all information (IT/IS) system equipment. Online/onsite auctions. Liquidation of any lot size retail inventory. POS, network equipment specialists.

Canvas Systems. 3025 Northwoods Parkway, Norcross GA 30071. www.canvassystems.com 678-250-7041. E-mail: info@canvassystems.com. Tim McLaughlin. Company specializes in refurbished corporate IT equipment. Buy, sell, rent and lease used equipment from businesses, OEMs and other recyclers. Monitor fee: $15.

Computer Asset Liquidation. 2485 Vulcan Dr., Bldg. B, Lithia Springs, GA 30122. (no Web site) Email: computerasset@yahoo.com or 770-577-2326. Keith Scogin, Pres. Deal only with corporate customers and can pick up. Call for details.

Creative Recycling Systems of Georgia, Inc. 85 North Industrial Rd., Palmetto, GA 30268. www.crserecycling.com. Email: rgolden@crserecycling.com or 770-969-3664. Richard Golden. Company provides asset management and recycling services for all surplus and obsolete electronic equipment (plug-in or battery powered), not just computers.

Data Instruments, Inc. 869 Pickens Industrial Drive, Suite 7, Marietta, GA 30062. www.workstation.net. Email: dii@workstation.net, or 770-919-2400. Fred Dikeman. Company buys and sells servers and work stations from H-P, Sun Microsystems, Compaq and Digital Equipment (DEC). Do not accept equipment from homeowners.

GSAN Computer Marketing, Inc. 1038 MLK Jr. Blvd., Gainesville, GA 30501. www.gsan.net Email: greg@gsan.net or 770-503-9900. Greg Sandoval, Pres. Company only accepts materials from businesses, OEMs and other computer/electronics recyclers. Charge $1-$3/unit for CRT/monitor removal.

Market Velocity Inc. 3885 Crestwood Pkwy. Suite 500, Duluth, GA 30096. www.marketvelocity.com. Email: feedback@marketvelocity.com or 770-325-6300. Diane Morse. Provide institutions, and corporations a way to “trade up” their old but still functional computers for new models. Call for details.

Pifusion Development Group, Inc. 3973 Atlanta Hwy. 78, Suite 200, Loganville, GA 30052. (Web site under construction) Email: tmueller@pifusion.com, or 770-554-7449. Todd Mueller, Pres. Company buys and sells a broad spectrum of computer equipment & peripherals. Can pick up from customer. Call for details.

Premiere Recycling, Inc. 3400 River Green Court, Duluth GA 30096. www.premiererecycling.com. Email: philt@premiererecycling.com, or 678-417-0830 ext. 10. Accept EOL electronics, telephony and computers. Charge $15.50 per CRT.

Southern Refurb, Inc. 825 Marathon Pkwy. Suite A, Lawrenceville, GA 30045. www.southernrefurb.com. Email: john@southernrefurb.com or 770-339-9500. John Reddien. Buys and resells mainframes, PCs, controllers, peripherals and parts.

U. S. Micro Corporation. 7000 Highlands Pkwy. Suite 160, Smyrna, GA 30082. www.usmicrocorp.com. Email: jbooth@usmicrocorp.com or 678-241-0107. Jim Booth, Sales and Purchasing Mgr. Refurbishes and resells complete units. 30-unit minimum. Will pay for working monitors >15”. Provide secure asset removal for corporations.

Printers Only

Computronics. 6740 Tribble St., Lithonia GA 30058. www.computronics-inc.com. Email:

jeffm@computronics-inc.com or 770-484-7150. Jeff May, owner. Specializes in printers only. They buy and sell all major brands.

Not-for-profit Organizations

ReBoot. www.reboot-atrc.org. 770-934-8432. Joanne Willis. 4508 Bibb Blvd., Suite B10,

Tucker GA 30084. Email: kenwill2@bellsouth.net

Tech Corps Georgia, Inc. www.techcorpsga.org. Niyati Desai. 404-564-7373.

Email: info@techcorpsga.org 229 Margaret St., Atlanta GA 30315.

Recycling Fakers In Atlanta Metro

We have found several dozen entities listed in various media which promote themselves as eWaste recyclers in the Atlanta Metro area. We want to take a look at a few to give you some idea of who are real, and who are "All Hat, No Cattle".

• Hensley Industries

Website: www.hensley-ind.com

Email: info/sale/service/support:/hensley-ind.com

Address as Listed: 81 Kelli Clark Court, Cartersville, GA, 30121

Review: The information on their website appears to have been last updated in 2002. Their "East Cost Operations" shows an address that does not exist. The information on the website says they are one of the oldest and largest recyclers in the United States; they are not. They are not even included in the top twenty eWaste recyclers in the Atlanta Metro area!

Their Internet registration information shows the registrant contact to be: Brent Sorchik, (bsorchik@yahoo.com) at a company called: Sybertek Solutions Inc, at 2774 N. Cobb Parkway, Ste 109-350, Kennesaw, GA, 30152, with phone number: 770-621-5050. When you dial that number you get Allied Enforcement Solutions LLC. Using Google Earth, the address provided appears to be a vacant lot. According to the GA Secretary of State, Mr. Sorchik has offices at: 5025 Wellcrest Court, Kennesaw, GA, 30152.. Mr. Sorchik is listed as: CEO, CFO, Secretary, etc. on the registration papers for the companies.

If you do a search on the primary listed "Main Office Phone Number" of 770-975-4528, you get no web-based reference on 411.com nor Google. If you do a search on any of the other phone numbers provided for Hensley Industries from their paperwork, nothing relavant shows up. You do get listings for Hensley Industries in Texas, which is a manufacturer of heavy (earth moving) equipment. If you do a Google search on anything related to any of Mr. Sorchik's companies, you get nothing that supports their website claims.

Also on the Hensley Ind. website, they claim they are "EPA Certified". For a fuller description of EPA "Certification" go here, or here.. Briefly, electronic recycling facilities located in Georgia generally have no legal authority to provide EPA compliance certification for eWaste recycling. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Molam International is the only EPA certified recycler in Georgia. None of Mr. Sorchik's companies is even listed in the GA DNR Recyclers List.

From the Georgia DNR comes this caveat:

"Some recyclers claim to be "EPA Permitted," “EPA Certified,” or “EPA Approved.” However, the EPA has no permitting, certification, or approval process for electronics recyclers. Many times when these recyclers are asked for copies of their "EPA Permit," “Certification,” or “Approval” they offer a copy of an EPA ID number. This typically begins with three letters, including the state initials followed by nine numbers. This is merely an EPA-issued number that is required for manifesting hazardous waste for shipment. Anyone who generates hazardous waste must have one to transport material for disposal. It is not a permit to recycle electronics.

What is Electronic Waste..???

General Information on E-Waste/Electronic Waste

How much electronic waste is in the waste stream?

Used consumer electronics represent less than two percent of the municipal solid waste stream. In 2005, discarded tv’s, pc’s, peripherals (including printers, scanners, faxes), mice,keyboards and cell phones totaled about 2 million tons. Of that, about 80-85% (1.5 to 1.9 million tons) was discarded, primarily in landfills.

How much e-waste is recycled?

In 2005, discarded tv’s, pc’s, peripherals (including printers, scanners, faxes), mice,keyboards and cell phones were recycled at a rate of about 15-20 percent (345,000 to 379,000 tons). The recycled/disposed split remained fairly constant between 1999-2005.Although recycling continues to increase, the percentage recycled remains constant because of the ever-increasing number of electronics available for end of life management.

How many consumer electronics are still in use or storage, of those sold since 1980?

Almost half (or 976 million units) of products sold between 1980 and 2004 are still in use or reuse. Nine percent (180 million units) of products sold between 1980 and 2004 are still in storage.

How much e-waste is exported?

To date, we have only examined export of CRTs. In 2005, approximately 61 percent (about 107,500 tons) of CRT monitors and TVs collected for recycling were exported for remanufacture or refurbishment. The next largest portion, about 14 percent (or 24,000 tons)was CRT glass sold to markets abroad for glass-to-glass processing.

What are the substances of potential concern in electronics?

Lead, mercury, cadmium and brominated flame retardants are among the substances of

concern in electronics. These substances are included in the products for important

performance characteristics, but can cause problems if the products are not properly managed at end of life.

Lead is used in glass in TV and PC cathode ray tubes as well as solder and interconnects;older CRTs typically contain on average 4 lbs of lead (sometimes as much as 7 lbs in olderCRTs), while newer CRTs contain closer to 2 lbs of lead.Mercury is used in small amount in bulbs to light flat panel computer monitors and notebooks.

Brominated flame retardants are widely used in plastic cases and cables for fire retardancy; the more problematic ones have been phased out of newer products but remain in older products.

Cadmium was widely used in ni-cad rechargeable batteries for laptops and other portables.Newer batteries (nickel-metal hydride and lithium ion) do not contain cadmium.PVC is used in wire and cable sheathing.