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

Recycling Today, Sept, 2002 by Brian Taylor

Gold Circuit has experience in providing this type of service, such as proof that hard drives have been wiped, says project manager Harry Strachan, and the recycling company is applying much of this experience to certifying its equipment destruction capabilities in Casa Grande.

In the case of some government agencies and corporations, personnel will be assigned to watch the equipment as it goes through the shredder. "Others get a certificate of destruction," says Strachan. "It states that we have destroyed their material in accordance with all federal, state and county environmental regulations."

To address any concerns regarding the disposition of the leaded glass from the CRTs. Strachan says that all customers will be provided with copies of the environmental permits that are held by the lead recycling facility consuming the glass, including such information as their ISO 9002, ISO 14000 and RCRA (Resource Conversation Recovery Act) documents.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Casa Grande crossroads.

Although its historic home is in the Phoenix area, Gold Circuit Inc. chose Casa Grande, Ariz., as the site of its plant for the key reason of logistics.

The mid-sized city is located at the crossroads of Interstates 8 and 10. "We're on I-8. which goes to San Diego, and I-10, which goes to Los Angeles, Phoenix and Tucson," says Gold Circuit's Harry Strachan.

Gold Circuit California customers can thus find low freight costs per truckload from San Diego and Los Angeles. "We get materials at the lowest cost transportation rates compared to anybody else serving those markets," notes Strachan.

If the company needed confirmation that its choice of location was a wise one, it can find it in the thinking of one of the nation's largest retailers (one highly regarded as the foremost logistics experts in America).

"This company is opening a distribution center just a half-mile away, and they probably spent quite a bit to make that site determination," says Strachan. "We feel pretty sure we're in the right spot."

The author is editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted via e-mail at btaylor@RecyclingToday.com.