Northeast Surplus & Materials, LLC was formed in response to a perceived need to reduce the large amount of electronic waste (e-waste) that was finding its way into the nation’s landfills. This electronic waste can be the source of toxic materials that can leach into the environment given enough time. Not only did we want to reduce the e-waste, but we also intended to recoup valuable parts and component precious metals at the same time.

Less than .3% of the products we receive for recycling actually go into the landfills. Thus, an average truckload of 25,000 pounds of e-waste will yield no more than 75 pounds of inert, clean landfill waste.

The toxic materials that typically are found in electronic devices are: lead in the solder that is used, plus lead that is part of the Monitor’s CRT shielding (an average computer and monitor will contain about 8 pounds of lead collectively), lithium in the on-board CMOS battery, mercury in switches and relays, plus cadmium, chromium, selenium, indium and other trace elements that comprise much of the electronic integrated devices. The actual amounts of these elements are fairly low, but collectively when examined on a national scale, can result in thousands of pounds of these potentially toxic materials being land filled on a daily basis. There are many so-called ‘recyclers’ who are accepting this e-waste and simply shipping it to third world countries. This e-waste still generates the potential toxicity so matter where it is land filled. Simultaneously, our country is also shipping tons of precious metals overseas, where they are recovered and sold back to us at inflated prices. At Northeast Surplus & Materials we perform the entire recycling processes here in Syracuse, not only saving the environment, saving our precious metals, but creating local jobs at the same time. Whereas computer manufacturers use the latest technology and assembly line techniques to build these units, we have to disassemble them, sort and identify the components manually. De-manufacturing is labor intensive and thus costly to perform.

We are providing this information to educate you, the generator of the e-waste, to impart a sense of responsibility to recycle your old electronics in the correct manner. We also hope to get you to understand that there is a cost involved in recycling and that you need to be prepared to pay a fee to recycle your old equipment.

We accept all type of electronics and electrical waste. Computers, monitors, printers, ancillary and accessory equipment, motors, generators, old power tools, etc.. “If it plugs in, goes around, lights up, or makes a sound, we take it”. Presently, we do not accept televisions or microwave ovens.