Gold rush: Gold Circuit Inc. plays its hand at electronics recycling in the Arizona desert - Cover Story

Recycling Today, Sept, 2002 by Brian Taylor

Electronics recycling continues to mean different things to different people, with some putting a heavier emphasis on reconditioning and re-use while others are now focusing on recovering metals, plastic and other secondary raw materials.

With a recent major investment, Gold Circuit Inc., Chandler, Ariz., has joined a small roster of companies that can offer comprehensive information security, reconditioning and product recycling and disposal services.

The company's background in asset recovery has linked it to a considerable corporate base of customers with obsolete electronic equipment. A second wave of material may well come from the residential stream in California, where electronic equipment is increasingly being turned away at landfills.

BEYOND CIRCUIT BOARDS

Entire states and cities can trace their origins back to a regional gold rush, and several recycling companies were similarly rooted in the hunt for gold.

"When we first started 11 years ago, our efforts went into reclaiming gold from electronic parts and circuit boards," says Jim Greenberg, president of Gold Circuit Inc.

But the computer reconditioning and resale market soon found Greenberg and his fledgling business. "Within six months, used computer dealers came in and wanted to buy entire units, so we quickly switched over to a broader business model."

The company started with two people and 1,000 square feet of space, notes Greenberg. As operations grew more diverse, employees and space were added, and the number of potential directions the company could take multiplied.

Adding to the mix of services were requests from corporate clients, such as financial institutions, who wanted to ensure that data was destroyed. "There's always been a certain amount of disassembly, but we also clean hard drives or use certified software technicians to remove software imprints on telecommunications equipment," says Greenberg.

The greatest change to Gold Circuit's business, however, is coming from the disposal side of the equation. "There is a big issue with computer monitors and televisions in particular becoming hazardous wastes," says Greenberg. The recent disclosure of unsafe disassembly of such pieces of equipment in China has added to the need to provide a different recycling or disposal method, he notes.

"There aren't a lot of alternatives," says Greenberg regarding the end-of-life handling of monitors and televisions, often referred to as CRTs because of the cathode ray tubes found within. "Every time you track down the alternatives, you find they are still going somewhere overseas."

Nearly a year ago, Greenberg made the decision to build a plant that would process CRTs and other obsolete electronic equipment by shredding it and separating out the secondary commodities.

DEALING WITH THE UNWANTED

Gold Circuit turned to RRT Design and Construction, Melville, N.Y., to help it build a plant in Casa Grande, Ariz., that features the shredding and sorting equipment needed to safely and efficiently handle CRT scrap.

The Casa Grande plant is being operated in addition to the company's headquarters office and plant in Chandler, where administrative, reconditioning and asset recovery operations will continue to take place.

"The Casa Grande plant was designed with a primary emphasis toward CRT monitors and televisions," says RRT president Nat Egosi, noting that this distinguishes it from other electronics recycling facilities that have been set up in other parts of the country.

The distinction spurred several design innovations both in terms of downsizing and separating materials and in making sure potentially harmful dusts and toxins are not released into the surrounding workplace.

On the processing side, the E-Vantage Separator System has been trademarked by RRT and its supplying equipment companies, SSI Shredding Systems Inc. of Wilsonville, Ore., and Andela Products Ltd. of Richfield Springs, N.Y.

"SSI's shredder is designed not only to reduce electronic scrap, but also to liberate materials from each other, such as plastic from attached metal and glass," says Egosi.

The Andela Pulverizer is used to separate out the leaded glass portion of the stream. Calling the machine a "flexible impactor," Egosi says of it, "The unique feature of the Pulverizer is that while pulverizing the glass, it does not alter the size or shape of the plastic or metal."

The shredders, combined with a series of screens and magnetic devices, produce a variety of secondary commodity streams that are shipped to a number of different consuming markets.

On the environmental side, the entire system is enclosed, says Egosi. "Once scrap enters the machine, it is completely enclosed until it comes out of the system. It is serviced by dust collection systems and a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter," says Egosi, referring to the type of filter used in high-tech "clean rooms."

The other environmental consideration, notes Egosi, is "after the material is separated, where does it go in terms of end markets? The glass goes to lead smelters that are accustomed to handling lead, the ferrous scrap goes to its traditional end markets while the mixed nonferrous goes to media separation facilities that also are accustomed to handling diverse materials, producing a clean, consumable end product and properly disposing of any problem materials."