Michigan Electronics Recycling

Why should you recycle your electronic waste? There are several answers to this question. Although, electronics comprise a relatively small volume in our landfills (est. 15%) they produce a large amount of heavy metals. (est. 70%) These heavy metals have been known to produce birth defects, liver, kidney, and heart/lung damage. All of these metals when processed properly can be re-used in new items. Electronic waste can not only contain hazardous heavy metals, but also non-hazardous scarce metals. More complex electronic devices can have up to 60 elements both hazardous and non-hazardous. Conserving our natural resources is at the core of Michigan Electronics Recycling mission and philosophy.

The Revenue Cost Equation
One of the biggest questions asked is 'What does your service cost?' The answer is very simple to most small businesses and organizations...there is no charge for the service! We will do a simple ROI (Return of Investment) calculation to make sure that each route/pickup is covering marginal costs associated with that particular load. If we cannot cover our costs, the customer will be given the opportunity to make-up the difference in cost. In the case that the load is small and won't cover travel costs, we will attempt to combine loads with other customers. If requested, we offer inventory reporting and under certain conditions, we offer revenue sharing.

The Electronic Recycling Process
The goal is to prolong the life of functioning electronics and to recycle those that cannot be repaired or reused. The management of Michigan Electronics Recycling LLC., has spent years building relationships with vendors that purchase equipment for resale as well as process antiquated equipment in order to return the metals and plastics back into the manufacturing stream. At Michigan Electronics Recycling LLC., we do our due diligence to make sure that all of the material that we handle is going to be processed in environmentally, friendly ways. It is part of our mission to practice planetary stewardship.

Inventory/Revenue Share Program

Whether it is an item count, serial number tracking, disposition weights or a combination, Michigan Electronic Recycling, LLC will work with you --to make 100% sure -- that all of your reporting requirements are met! We realize that each organization has different levels of accountability. Some of our customers require tracking to help prevent shrinkage, while others simply need it for internal reporting to show continuous improvement or to meet ISO goals. Whatever your organizational goals may be, we will customize a solution to fit your needs.
When we have a revenue share client, there will automatically be reporting built into the process. Michigan Electronic Recycling, LLC builds programs based on customer volume in combination with asset make-up. Many times the preferred method of recycling is to keep an item in the re-use stream. Depending on age, condition, and original cost, many items can be functioned-tested and kept in use. Some items may still have useful life and this is the lowest cost stream from a processing perspective. Depending on the customer we often times revenue share on items that have re-use as well.

Downstream Transparency

Michigan Electronic Recycling, LLC will take your end of life assets: computers, laptops, stereos, cell phones or any electronics that we recycle, to an environmentally conscious and appropriate processor! These conscious companies generally carry one of two certifications of standards:e-stewards (e-stewards.org) and R2. (sustainableelectronics.org)
Michigan Electronic Recycling, LLC only ships focus materials (materials that can pose environmental concern) to vendors that carry either one or both of these standards. Processing of these types of materials can be very complicated. We make every effort to make sure that they end up in the right hands in the contiguous United States. Domestic processors can handle nearly all of the materials. Some materials, such as circuit boards will be handled by a very specific group of worldwide smelters. Smelters have met the highest environmental standards and are located in developed countries. With respect to many other by-products, such as aluminum, copper, steel and plastics, there are plenty of domestic options for processing. Michigan Electronic Recycling, LLC has a policy of making our downstream vendor list available to our clients upon request.

Information Protection

Over the past several decades with increasing cyber thefts, the government has passed many laws dealing with information protection and destruction. Laws such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) Federal Information Security Management (FISMA) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have made it illegal to just throw away computer tape or hard drives. (magnetic media: hard drives, tape cartridges, zip and jaz disks and jump drives.)
Michigan Electronic Recycling, LLC’s concern for customer information protection is a two-step process using both, degaussing, followed by physical destruction. This ensures the destruction of any data that was on the device. Degaussing the drive first ensures you that any information on the drive will be destroyed.For other storage devices such as CD’s, DVD’s solid state hard drives, flash memory sticks, thumb drives, etc. physical destruction is the preferred method.