eWaste Alternatives
60 Industrial Street, Waterville, Maine, United States

Each state in the US has environmental regulations that treat all surplus/unwanted technology as a 'Universal Waste' sometimes referred to as 'eWaste'. In Maine, these regulations do not make clear allowances for the donation of technology to non-profits or schools, and creates compliance risks that are left to interpretation.The Information Technology Exchange (ITE), a non profit technology access program realized that these expanding and unclear/ambiguous regulations could damage its efforts to support community nonprofits, low income families and students by forcing prospective technology donors to 'stick to regulatory language', which could result in the destruction of potentially reusable technology via conventional scrap recycling.

In 2006, ITE and SKILLS Inc (another Maine non profit) partnered to create an option far superior to costly conventional scrap recycling - a solution that would exceed environmental regulations and encourage technology reuse.The program also sustains employment for people with disabilities, paid and volunteer internships for aspiring technology learners, and provides a consistant supply of tested technology donations that are used for a host of social causes and community benefit.Meanwhile, technology donors enjoy significant cost savings, regulatory compliance, complete materials accountability, iron clad data security and positive public relations for their close work with and support of this unique and powerful idea....these partnerships are the epitome of a sustainable social cause between the commercial and non profit sector.This work has resulted in the creation of SKILLS' Incs eWaste Alternatives Program, which now receives more than 30,000 lbs per month of electronic materials from donors all over the Northeast US. More than 30% of these materials are recovered for reuse.

EWA is not comparable to a conventional recycling service (see below) or even an asset recovery program (see below) - it is a unique combination of the best these services have to offer and much more...

• Far less expensive than any other service that meets regulatory requirements
• Primary directive to reuse materials prior to considering recycling (destruction for scrap) raises the environmental bar
• Actual management of individual devices and thorough documentation means true materials accountability
• Includes data destruction services at no additional cost
• Reusable materials are prioritized for use in social causes that strengthen our community
• Surplus reusable materials are re-marketed. Proceeds to benefit our non profit missions of increasing technology access and employment for people with disabilities
• Significant positive public relations opportunity through proven sustainable business to community partnership.

Manage your surplus I.T. using our sustainable practices model!

• Waste Diversion to Community Reuse and Technology Access and Literacy Programs
• Minimal Recycling Fees
• Employment of People with Disabilities
• Total Process Transparency
• Downstream Scrap Processing & Refining is Limited to eSteward and R2 Certified Processors

eWaste Alternatives is much more than a Recycling Service or even an I.T. Asset Management Service - it is our response to the business communities desire to cut costs and support the community WITHOUT compromising service quality, compliance or security.eWaste Alternatives (EWA for short) is owned and operated by SKILLS Inc, a 501(C)3 nonprofit corporation. This program employs people with disabilities, offers best in class electronics recovery and recycling services and reuses technology to strengthen our community in many ways. Our services are available throughout Northern New England.Whatever your interest may be - best practices, our environment, service quality, compliance, security, cost, transparency, people with disabilities, digital divide issues, community or your overall sustainability - eWaste Alternatives was designed for you.Use the links to the left to learn why eWaste Alternatives is the best choice for management of surplus electronics for your business.

Documentation

Unlike typical recycling services, we actually receive, record and security screen every device. During this process, the make, model and serial number are recorded in a report. Each device is then tested for reuse - the result is recorded, and finally any sensitive media (hard drives) hosted in a device is removed for sanitization and are recorded as well.This process is repeated until the entire batch (all the devices received from a specific client location on a particular date) has been processed. The report is then compiled and emailed to our accounting office who generates a service invoice attached to the full report so you can have it for asset management and proof of compliance and security.

A summary of the report materials is also sent it to the Department of Environmental Protection as an 'approved electronic method for Universal Waste reporting'. This important compliance feature is another service we perform on your behalf.The report is a comprehensive document. It acts as service agreement, certificate of recycling (COR), makes the appropriate mutual assurances (free of lien, title transfer, promise to pay), outlines the materials collection details (Department of Transportation requirement), lists each devices' details, materials disposition (reuse, recycled) and summary of asset returns or processing fees.There is also a scorecard section in the end of the report that calculates the amount of materials received that were reused versus recycled. This information is very useful to anyone interested in measuring environmental impact, cost savings, social benefit and overall sustainability.

Security

Most "recycling services" are just brokers who handle materials in bulk - individual devices are not screened for sensitive information until they have passed through several hands, states and often continents.  This leaves a gaping whole in security as these devices move from place to place.  This practice has lead to tremendous security and environmental problems throughout the world.Our workflows were designed around a 'secure chain of custody' operations model where materials remain in our possession from the point of collection (your facility) all the way through documentation, security screening and de-manufacturing - without use of any outside logistics or processing contractors.  

Hard drives that are suitable for reuse are sanitized using the N.I.S.T. 800.88 'Secure Erase' procedure, which exceeds the DoD 5220.22M standard in outcome consistancy. The 'Secure Erase' process we use ends with a verification test that scans the drive for any remaining information.  Upon completion, these drives are marked with a green label indicating 'Sanitized & Verified' with the initials of the technician who witnessed the process.  Random samples of these drives are taken weekly and put through our forensic data recovery tools to ensure that there are no false positive verification results.  Since we deployed the use of secure erase in 2010, we have yet to see a false positive or locate retrievable data on any of the devices we have sanitized.  

Community Recycling

eWaste Alternatives is an exciting nonprofit program designed to reduce the electronic waste stream through reuse while creating gainful employment for people with disabilities - right here in Maine!  Thanks to Maine’s "Product Stewardship Law', we can bill the manufacturer of your old TV, laptop or printer instead of passing the cost onto you!  This has virtually eliminated recycling fees that used to be passed onto consumers - all you have to do is bring your unwanted stuff to eWaste Alternatives’ MDEP licensed and R2/RIOS certified recycling facility!All Maine households, schools, nonprofits and businesses with under 100 employees are eligible for this service and these reduced fees. 

Items that will involve a recycling fee are:

• Miscellaneous 'Consumer Electronics such as Cameras, Typewriters, VCRs, Radios, Keyboards, Phones $.10/pound

• Copiers and large free-standing printers $.20/pound

• Wood console TVs, things in wood cabinets $10/ea

• ‘Disposable’ non-rechargeable batteries $.50/pound