Metal And Electronic Waste Recycling Planning For Small Businesses

2 August 2017
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Does your business need to get rid of few old computers? Are you dealing with improper waste fines or simply tired of wasting investments on old electronics, cables, or office equipment? Small business sometimes have difficulty getting rid of old equipment in ways that aren't a major drag on productivity, and it's even harder to make a bit of their investment back. Here are a few recycling points to make your business recycling plans more efficient.

Weigh The Benefits Of Full Unit Versus Scrap Recycling

When getting rid of old electronics, recycling centers have different rates depending whether you've taken the device apart or not. Recycling center pay charts have standardized rates for whole computers, printers, and other electronics that are based on an average.

This can be a good thing for fast and efficient recycling planners, assuming that the standardized rate is accurate. The rate should be a measurement of the specific metals and other materials inside the device, but it's possible that the device model you have includes a different amount of materials. It could be more, but it could also be less.

Consider taking apart the device to get an exact answer. If the recycling center rates are accurate, it's fine to just load up the systems in a recycling dumpster as they are. If there's a lot more of a specific, high-value metal such as gold, platinum, or copper, you may want to consider scrap recycling to maximize on those individual rates--hopefully without labor costs devouring your potential earnings.

Scrap Recycling And Container Choices

When scrapping for individual materials, it's important to have a team that can quickly and efficiently take apart the devices. The ideal situation involves current employees who can dismantle the devices without losing time on current projects, such as repair technicians already on the clock without much else to do.

If you need to take workers off of important tasks or hire outsiders for the dismantling, be sure to factor that into the cost. Whatever you do, you should also consider the proper container and delivery options to make the final recycling push more efficient.

When recycling at the scrap level, it's helpful to isolate items into the metal or other material type. A close enough option would be to store similar parts such as hard drives, heat sinks, or bundles of wire into the same container.

A recycling center like East Central Sanitation & Recycling can provide individual, color-coded bins to make organization a lot more efficient. They can also help you find a loading area for roll off dumpsters that can take large amounts of recyclable materials, or drop off containers that match your standard recycling load to give workers a close and organized destination instead of keeping everything indoors.

Contact a roll off dumpster and recycling container professional to discuss your business' electronics and metal recycling needs.