eWaste

Remember back when there were TV repairmen, and before we considered almost all electronics disposable? Ever wonder what happens to all of the electronic waste we generate? Much of it ends up in landfills, where it is environmentally toxic, or shipped to developing countries, under the guise of recycling there. But there are companies that are making a business of collecting and reusing/recycling/reselling electronics. My friend Lea, whom I met at the Garden Club of America (GCA) National Affairs & Legislative Meeting in D.C. this winter, was curious, and she located a private e-waste facility right here in nearby Ontario County. On her recent visit to Rochester to attend the GCA Annual Meeting (which Rochester hadn't hosted in over 30 years!), she arranged a visit to Regional Computer Recycling & Recovery (rcr&r) for a few of us from the GCA. It was eye-opening.

Items on ebay

The 100,000 s.f. facility has various certifications, including for responsible recycling and hard drive destruction. They refer to themselves as a first level de-manufacturer, which takes in product from businesses, hospitals, schools and colleges, and some state agencies. Individuals may also drop off items at the site. There were bins of just keyboards, others of just circuit boards. Rcr&r tests their incoming electronics in case any can be immediately reused, but otherwise, they deconstruct them so that the parts can be reused, recycled, or refurbished and resold. In fact, there is an entire two-story section devoted to items that are either available on e-bay or directly to businesses looking for parts!

Our guide tried to explain the convoluted New York State regulations regarding electronics recycling, and I'm not sure I completely understood, but it seemed to involve businesses being required to recycle a certain percent of pounds relative to their in-state sales, and rcr&r providing, for a fee, documentation of that recycling. The bane of their business is the CRT TV – it has no resale/recycling value, and contains hazardous waste. But they still take them. Another product they take reluctantly is alkaline batteries, since they have to “pay to make them go away.” Otherwise, there are purchasers of most of their materials output – the plastics, metals, etc. Our guide said they're dealing in “nickels and dimes” but obviously they add up to a profit, since the building was well staffed, well organized, and as Lea remarked, surprisingly clean.

Shredded hard drives

We saw their data security system in action, as one of their employees in a locked cage fed hard drives into a shredder. And we did ask if any of their by-product ended up in China. The answer was “probably not,” since not only is rcr&r audited, in order to retain its certifications, but they apparently audit their downstream vendors.

Rcr&r is located on Victor-Mendon Road, just south of Route 90 and the Eastview Mall. But you don't have to visit the corporate headquarters to drop off your electronics – individuals can take their ewaste to any of their drop-off locations, found here: http://www.ewaste.com/partners.php?CTY=Select+A+County. Every little bit helps...