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E-recycler spreads the wealth: Local charities find cash in unwanted computers, cell phones: Local charities find cash in unwanted computers, cell phones by recycling old electronicsApr 01, 2010 (The Haverhill Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Recycling electronic goods has become a popular fundraiser for community organizations and has become a lucrative business for entrepreneurs thirsting to make a quick buck in the information age. But not all businesses that recycle electronics have the best of intentions when taking the used televisions, microwaves, computers, and other electronic goods that well-meaning recyclers bring to them. Two local organizations said they researched recyclers before choosing Allied Computer Brokers of Amesbury and Atlanta, Ga. On Saturday, March 27, the Haverhill High School football boosters collected electronics to recycle at Haverhill Stadium. Booster Doreen Giampiola of Haverhill said the organization chose Allied Computer Brokers of Amesbury because they have a track record with the city and the schools, and therefore she felt they were trustworthy. "Allied Computer Brokers is a reputable company," she said. "The city uses them, the schools use them, and they've been around a long time." Allied Computer Brokers will be back in Haverhill on April 10, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., for an electronics recycling event with Rebuilding Together of Greater Haverhill. Lynn Murphy, Rebuilding Together program director, said the organization, which enlists volunteers to help repair homes and make them safe for low-income, disabled and elderly residents, saw electronics recycling as a great way to raise money while doing something environmentally friendly. "It's a green type of industry," she said. "We try to be green and more environmentally friendly (with home repair projects), so it fit in well (with us)." How green is your recycler? Allied Computer Brokers, in business for more than 15 years, said customers can be assured that it is following sound practices that protect the environment. One thing to look for, said co-founder Rick Nicolosi, is a company that disassembles or destroys collected products in-house rather than shipping the goods somewhere else. Nicolosi said that Allied Computer Brokers destroys everything in-house except items that contain mercury. Allied is not equipped to handle the dangerous substance, so it ships those items to a company that deals with hazardous materials to have the mercury tubes removed. He refused to name the company, due to the competition in the recycled electronics market. Nicolosi said the company ships the items back to Allied -- mercury-free -- for processing, which is then done at the company's headquarters in Amesbury. "I don't want (the company's name) in the paper," said Nicolosi. "It's hard to find reputable companies (that deal with mercury). A lot of them are not reputable. I'll just let my competitors go to the nonreputable ones." Big business Nicolosi said competition in the recycled electronics market is exploding. "Everyone wants to get into it," he said. "It's recession-proof; it's a growing need." According to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, electronic waste is the fastest-growing segment of the solid waste stream. Jeff Scalese of Haverhill, a restaurant owner before starting Allied Computer Brokers with Nicolosi, said his business is a necessity in the advent of inexpensive electronics. A study by the federal Environmental Protection Agency reports that by 2007, the average consumer replaced his cell phone every two years and his computer every three years. "We're taking material, reprocessing it, and sending it back to manufacturers," he said. "It's getting reused instead of going into a landfill." By the end of the process, Allied Computer Brokers essentially becomes a commodities broker, Scalese said, separating plastic from metals and selling the metal to brokers who then sell it to manufacturers, completing the recycling process. Business has become so good, the company recently expanded to a second facility in Atlanta. Show me the money So how do charitable organizations like the Boosters or Rebuilding Together make money? The mechanism varies by company. "We're charged a flat fee, so anything we make after that we get to keep," Giampiola said of the arrangement the Boosters have with Allied Computer Brokers. People who bring items to the recycling events pay anywhere from $2 to $25 to dispose of an item, depending on its size and contents. Monitors are most costly because they have the mercury-filled tubes in them. Most computer components can cost as little as $5 at such an event. Scalese said Allied would charge the Boosters only for labor and processing the glass. Nicolosi said that it would be impossible to know exactly how much electronic waste would be processed from the event -- and therefore how much the Boosters will realize from their recycling fundraiser -- until the company processes all the items with glass in them. How to choose? The EPA suggests individuals and organizations who want to find reputable e-recyclers look for a company that: Can provide information about its procedures for demanufacturing; reuse, resale or donation; disposal and handling of waste. Can describe what it does with the electronic equipment it receives Uses a variety of processing methods, including brokering; resale of whole units; refurbishing; disassembling; materials recovery. Can provide the names and locations of the downstream businesses to which it sends equipment or components. The EPA said a company that is not reputable will landfill or incinerate components, or worse, ship them overseas to countries with lax environmental regulations regarding e-waste disposal. To see more of The Haverhill Gazette or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hgazette.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, The Haverhill Gazette, Mass. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |