Current Business Opportunities Within E-Recycling

Collection Depots: Keeping with the British Columbia example, the physical flow of electronics scrap starts with authorized collection depots. Encorp contracts over 100 sites in B.C. to accept authorized items, where they are typically palletized according to type (computers, televisions, etc.) and wrapped, for shipment to a consolidation center. Many of the B.C. collection centers also act as bottle and beverage can return centers, which generate much more business than the e-scrap side of the operation. For this reason, Roman suggested that one low-cost way to potentially get into e-recycling might be a collection site.

Consolidation Points: Consolidation points are a common tactic in the world of logistics. They allow less than load (LTL) accumulations to be combined into full loads to provide transportation efficiencies. In the B.C. model, the next stop after the collection center is the consolidation center. Encorp runs six such contracted sites in the province. At these locations, palletized products are scaled and cross-docked to create full, uniform loads to send to the recycler. Collectors are paid for their services by Encorp, based on that scaled weight. For a company interested in this type of consolidation business, dock doors to facilitate unloading and loading of trailers handling equipment, and a secure storage area for the product to accumulate are required. In other jurisdictions, consolidation opportunities also exist.

Primary Recycling: At recycling operations such as Intercon Solutions, an Illinois-based e-recycler with over 100 employees at its 25,000 square foot main facility, incoming scrap is removed from pallets and de-manufactured by operators who take equipment apart at workstations and sort material into the appropriate pallet bin, including such categories as circuit boards, steel, plastic and glass. At Intercon Solutions, 100% of incoming material is recovered, with zero material sent to the landfill. The result is the liberation of clean material that is subsequently sent to other approved processors. Brian Brundage, CEO of Intercon Solutions, emphasizes the importance of the chain of custody in handling e-waste. For large companies, there are considerations of reputation and liability as well as the need to safeguard confidential corporate information.

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