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1 Comment [ View ]Circuit of life for PCs, etc. / Clearfield firm recycles about anything with a plug or a battery
By BRYON SAXTONCLEARFIELD -- The combination of new Christmas electronic gadgetry and a February switch to digital television has an electronic waste recycler gearing up for an onslaught of heavy metal material.
"I'm not sure how much of a huge tidal wave we'll see, but we're certainly ready for it," said Mike Wright, president of Guaranteed Recycling Xperts, a Denver based e-waste recycler with a plant in the Freeport Center.
There, at the 24,000 square-foot Clearfield site, 12 workers, including a trio armed with air drills, dissemble computers and television monitors, piece by piece, sorting, boxing and bailing the remains for future sale.
One portion of the building resembles a series of demolition check-out stands with parts flying in an organized effort. The other side of the building is similar to a shipping yard where computers and televisions have been neatly stacked and wrapped in clear plastic atop wooden pallets.
Piles of waste electronics wait to be moved by forklift closer to those employees participating in the somewhat noisy disassembling process.
The site, established in 2005, is one of four centers operated by GRX, a company that recycles household and business e-waste for a fee depending on weight and freight.
The company recycles a combined 1 million pounds of electronics per month among its four locations. The other locations are Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo., and Omaha, Neb., Wright said.
By the end of the year, through a merger with Metech, the company will add three more e-waste recycling centers to its operation, with centers in Gilroy, Calif., Worcester, Mass., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
The additional plants will boost the company's combined recycling effort to 4 million pounds of electronics per month, Wright said.
"Ninety-five percent of what comes into the (Clearfield) building is recycled," said Eric Anderson, GRX Utah regional director. "Anything with a plug or a battery, we'll take it."
With the February switch to digital television, and the Christmas season, Anderson said he is anticipating a rush when it comes to e-waste recycling in late December and January.
"That week after Christmas will be interesting," he said.
Electronic retailers and manufacturers have "cranked up" in preparation for the Christmas season and the digital television switch in February, Wright said. But the number disposing of electronics as a result of Christmas upgrades and getting rid of televisions not digital-ready, he said, may be tempered by the slow economy.
"They (retailers) can't keep the $40 converter boxes on the shelf," Wright said, referring to those doing what they can to keep their old televisions.
But for those who don't, Wright said, GRX provides a service to prevent e-waste from being landfilled or stored. "Those are still two options used quite extensively," he said.
The e-waste the company receives is put through a process. The device is taken apart to separate out such materials as copper, steel, lead and batteries, Wright said. "Quite a few different fractions."
The company also takes the computer hard drives it receives and puts them through a shredder, he said.
Many of those materials are being landfilled or stored by businesses that hold onto old computers, Wright said.
When businesses are in a mode of shrinking operating space, he said, is when they generally turn out their old computers. As more people use an increasing number of electronics, the waste is also bound to increase.
In 1960, on average, there was one electronic device per household, Wright said. That number now is close to 20 devices per household.
Because of the toxicity of some of the materials in the devices, it is important e-waste is recycled properly, he said.
In Davis County, most waste is taken to an incinerator in Layton, where it is burned before being placed in the landfill.
Placing electronics in a waste incinerator merely burns the plastic, creating dioxins, Wright said, and does not break down the metals old computers and televisions contain.
There is also value in the materials found in electronics, Wright said, although often there isn't enough value to cover recycling costs, resulting in the need for a fee to recycle the materials.
But the environmental impact is significant, he said, and it is better to recover the material than allow it to go into a landfill.
"We don't accept any electronic waste from any businesses, period," said Nathan Rich, executive director of the Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District, which provides waste service for Davis and Morgan counties.
The district, which operates the Layton waste incinerator and landfill, however, does accept, as part of its Household Hazardous Waste program, e-waste in "household quantities," he said.
The district disposes of the e-waste free of charge to the individual, he said, despite there being a cost to the district.
It is certainly better to recycle the heavy metal items in televisions and computers, Rich said, but there is no danger in placing that type of waste in a lined landfill such as the one the district operates.
Recycling e-waste, like most recycling efforts, comes down to a personal philosophy, he said.
It is best to recycle, but there is currently a cost with it, he said.
GRX, established in 1999 in Denver, is a subsidiary of Centillion Environmental and Recycling. That parent company was profiled in November on a CBS "60 Minutes" report as a responsible and ethical e-waste recycler.
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