PROTECTING YOUR DATA IS OUR BUSINESS
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT IS EVERYONE'S BUSINESS

FOUNDED IN 1990, BACK THRU THE FUTURE IS ONE
OF THE OLDEST AND LARGEST COMPUTER RECYCLING FACILITIES
ON THE EAST COAST

A FEDERAL EPA REGISTERED AND
NJ DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION CLASS D LICENSED
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT RECYCLING FACILITY

(Member National Association for Information Destruction NAID)
(Member Information Systems Security Association ISSA) 

THE CHALLENGES OF COMPUTER RECYCLING
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Electronic recycling includes not only desktop computers but also notebooks, monitors, printers, scanners, cellular phones, faxes, copiers, telecommunications equipment, or any other device that contains electronic circuitry.  Computers make up the largest single segment.

Lets think about the problems facing the issue of computer recycling.  How does the computer in your office, warehouse, closet, or garage eventually find its way to the proper recycling sources?  Computers must be handled in a very special manner.  If a computer is mishandled, any potential reuse value will be lost. Once a computer is determined to be non-reusable it must be manually broken down into different recyclable components. Computers are made up of plastics, metals, and glass all intermixed in small packages.  There are only a few plastic recyclers in the country capable of recycling the special plastics used in computers. There are only a handful of cathode ray tube recyclers in the country. There are less than a dozen metal refiners that can process the electronic boards found in a computer.  In order for these recyclers to be efficient they must have huge facilities that process tons of product every day.  Computers must be collected from thousands of different locations in order to provide the necessary recycling volumes.  

To accomplish this task the computer recycling industry is made up of three tiers.

1. The first tier collects the product on a local basis.  This first tier is primarily focused on the reuse of the collected computer equipment.  It separates out the reusable equipment and segregates the non reusable equipment into like categories. ie. monitors, CPUs, loose electronic parts.  The reusable equipment is refurbished and resold or donated. The non reusable equipment is sent to the second tier processor.

2. The second tier begins the actual tear down process.  The metals, electronic components, CRTs, and plastics are separated and shipped in bulk to the specialized refiners located at the third tier.

3. The third tier are refineries that specialize in base material recapture.  The most valuable material found in computers are the electronic boards.  These boards are sent to precious metal refiners that recapture the precious metals used in the original manufacturing processes.  For information on what metals and how much are found visit http://www.backthruthefuture.com/environ_issues.php

Back Thru The Future has formed a partnership with different members of the computer recycling process to form what we believe to be the most efficient handling procedures in the industry. 

Recycling non useable computer equipment in the US:

There are two primary economically viable materials recapture in our electronic recycling process.

Leaded Glass:  The recycling of monitors is a very specialized business. The cathode ray tubes are heavily leaded and are considered hazardous waste.   However, there is an economically viable recycling method which grinds the leaded glass to a powder which is resold to cathode ray tube manufacturers creating a true circular life cycle. Unfortunately, cathode ray tube manufacturers have a limited requirement particularly now that LCD and plasma technology are the way of the future. Several large CRT manufactures have recently shut down their US operations because of pricing pressures from the Far East Manufactures. The other use for the ground leaded glass is flux used in smelting operations but smelters charge for the recycling of the ground glass.  Costs to recycle CRT glass will go up as these trends continue.   

Precious Metals:   Electronic boards are sent to precious metal smelters. Here precious metal and copper are recaptured and all other non desirable material is burned off. Unfortunately, as computer manufacturer's strive for lower costs, they are reducing the amount of precious metal in the manufacturing process (reducing the useful life and dependability of the electronics as a bi-product). This reduces the value of the recycled electronics making the entire recycling process less economical.

Batteries: One of the most environmentally dangerous items found in  computers are the nickel cadmium (NICD) and nickel metal hydride (NIMH) batteries used in laptop computers and cellular telephones.  Back Thru The Future is an authorized recycling center for the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC).  The RBRC is a non-profit public service organization primarily funded by the rechargeable battery manufacturers. They have a specialized recycling facility located in Pennsylvania where all nickel based and lithium batteries are sent.

Metals and Plastics:   What is left (approximately 80% of the scrap volume) are miscellaneous metals and plastics. This is where the true challenge of recycling computers lies.  The metals and plastics are all intermixed in a small container (the CPU or printer case) connected by screws, bolts, rivets, and or glue. Further disassembly is a manual process and costly.  The value of the labor far exceeds the value of the separated recyclable materials.  For this reason significant amounts of non reusable computer equipment is shipped to the Far East for further processing.