The History of Recycling E-Scrap

When Massachusetts became the first state to ban illegal CRT landfill dumping on April of 2000, our company Recycling E-Scrap of Jacksonville, FL (at that time Jack’s Recycling and Salvage) was called upon for assistance regarding this matter.   Five months prior to this law, on November of 1999, a third meeting was requested from Mr. Peter Kopcych and Mr. Robin Ingenthron from the New England States of Massachusetts and Vermont.  They found our website on the Internet and invited us to be directly involved in their States’ CRT recycling pilot.    We met with them and their state regulators, as well as with the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency, and our methods were accepted by them and utilized by Peter, then manager of the Freetown Transfer Facility in New Bedford, MA, who was acquainted with the owner (Mr. Dick Peloquin) of a TV and appliance repair shop in Gardner, MA, which soon after became Electronicycle, the first CRT and TV Recycling company out of all the New England States, and recyclers and processors of materials collected by Robin Ingenthron’s  American Retroworks, Inc.  of Middlebury, VT.   We were contacted by Peter who invited us to Massachusetts to help instruct them on the proper manner in which to dispose of unwanted working CRTs, thus the CRT recycling industry was born in New England and the export of good reusable equipment became a profitable and gratifying business to be involved in.

When Electronicycle merged with American Retroworks, Inc. in 2001, the fast and hugely growing e-scrap movement was practically unheard of for the majority of states, corporations, municipalities, counties, districts, cities, and consumer/residents.  Numerous other New England States followed shortly after with more computer and electronic scrap recycling companies which were able to become successful in a small amount of time through partnerships and mergers with other already existing recycling companies and able to obtain financial assistance in the form of recycling grants from various investment organizations.

 In the early 90s, we were pretty much the only CRT scrap recycling company on the Internet, and the original company in the USA to be certified and approved by the Tallahassee, Florida EPA.   Please note, before there was ever a CRT or an e- scrap/waste environmental department at the NGO Basel Action Network organization, also known as BAN in Seattle, Washington, and before there was an e-scrap/waste department at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries in Washington, DC, our small company had already long been established,  providing our collection and recycling services to over 2000 corporations and consumers in northeast Florida. 

We feel that even though we provided our industry knowledge and expertise to the State of Massachusetts in helping them set up their CRT recycling pilot in 1999, that our company was not given credit nor acknowledgement in having done so nor an opportunity to participate in any of the successful mergers and partnerships taking place in the New England States during this time, nor were we ever credited in being one of the pioneers in the CRT recycling industry revolution and evolution.  In tracing back to the beginning of the CRT/Computer and electronic scrap reuse/recycling industry and in previous original mergers, when Waste Management launched off Recycle America Alliance e-cycling services in Houston, TX in 2003, Electronicycle  became one of three original service partners for RAA, along with California’s e-Recycling of Southern CA at Paramount and Quicksilver in Tampa, Florida.  When the State of Florida became an RAA service partner, we were not asked to become part of this Alliance.  Quicksilver, our neighbors in Tampa, became part of the Alliance.  When our company could no longer compete with Waste Management and its Alliances, especially when Sims (Hayward, CA) merged with WMRA in 2005, we were also unable to qualify in obtaining recycling grants for assistance in holding community collection events which were being awarded to many recycling companies nationwide especially in the new England States.   In the meantime, locally in northeast Florida, we were making a pretty good living, exporting working reusable material, and since modern technology had not yet reached today’s potential, this kind of scrap had excellent value and it became very profitable, as we dealt only with companies paying high top American dollar for it.   There was no need to dispose of or discard anything, as they utilized every piece, all of the nuts and bolts for refurbishing and rebuilding used items into reusable, resalable equipment, therefore, they definitely were not throwing it in their rivers and landfills, as BAN states, and would like for everyone to believe.  Please note, as time went by and when some of the newer electronic scrap recycling companies surfaced and the sham and low ball recyclers started to appear at the height of this industry’s popularity, this is when the regulations of the hazardous e-waste export issue was born, with BAN banning the exportation of reusable material that could definitely benefit someone in some part of the world where they do not take anything for granted.  

When companies such as Electronicycle and American Retroworks, Inc. merged in 2001, (even with Robin Ingenthron’s future WR3A “Fair Trade” organization, and his defending the “Fair Trade Export”), some of these companies were forced to compete with smaller long standing companies such as ours who had already been established in the industry and who already owned markets and a customer based clientele.  Even though we were directly involved with the Massachusetts EPA from the beginning of this state’s banning of illegal CRT dumping, they have never returned or extended favors our way.   In 1999, when business contracts were signed,  hands were shaken and the CRT reuse business was to commence in the New England States of MA, VT and CT,  and to resume business as usual in Jacksonville, FL, all of a sudden a decision was made on their part, to make it difficult for smaller companies like ours who were only exporting reusable working items (the same type of good scrap that unfortunately the State of California shreds many pounds of on a daily basis), to ban working and reusable equipment from being exported.  As some of these companies were unable to compete with the export market of reusable electronic scrap, they made their own law prohibiting all export and promoted domestic recycling instead, preferring to shred perfectly good working units, making it easy for watchdog organizations such as BAN and the e-stewards to make it appear as if any recycler who is not labeled with their outrageously expensive steward logo, of committing horrific crimes in the unethical exportation of electronic waste containing hazardous toxins and poisoning poor bare footed children.  The possibility of e-waste getting tossed in their rivers and landfills was and is highly unlikely, except for in extreme cases where undoubtedly in today’s crooked world, definitely does go on, and it will continue to go on if fair trading and exporting is boycotted.  On the other hand, in a fairly recent yesterday’s world, when this industry first started, long before BAN or ISRI had an interest in electronic scrap, and long before these two organizations started fighting for the “certified electronics recycler “ logo, our company had already earned the title  of “certified electronics recycler” as approved by the Florida EPA.  Until the exportation of good reusable working equipment and the trading and recycling with markets abroad is better understood by regular folks who might not fully understand this industry, BAN should not be so one sided and should try to not convince or influence State or Federal government, corporations, cities, municipalities, counties, districts, residents/consumers and everyone else in between to not deal with companies that don’t bear their trademarked “e-steward “ logo which is originally basically funded through California consumers who pay the upfront fee upon their electronic purchases which goes to collectors and recyclers who are approved in the ARF (Advanced Recycling Fee) California payment system.

At the present time, our company is very much interested in allowing a suitable investment corporation or organization wishing to acquire accounts from our northeast Florida area.  We are offering a franchise opportunity in Jacksonville, and are opening the doors to our recycling facility to any potential investor, recycler, collector, processor, refurbisher, asset management, waste management companies, haulers or anyone else who may be interested in adding to their areas of service, by opening up another recycling facility location in the State of Florida, so at this time, we are respectfully requesting assistance in the form of investors or a partnership from any of the Big Players in the e-scrap/waste recycling industry who might be interested in owning large accounts from the northeast FL area.   Upon the possible partial or whole acquisition of our accounts by the proper potential investor, we will make the necessary changes and additions to any certifications, R2 guidelines, auditing or any other needed requirements in order to successfully grow and expand our business and continue to provide excellent collection and recycling services to all of our faithful customers, and ultimately be further accepted and respected in the industry by becoming a new certified electronics recycler. 

From the very beginning of this industry, the City of Jacksonville, unclear and unaware of the ins and outs of proper electronic recycling savvy, placed a restriction on our being able to obtain the City contract and requested from us and insisted that in order to be able to obtain the contract, it would be required and necessary for us to provide them with a $70,000.00 Assurity Bond, which we did.  This cost us approximately $1000.00 a month in interest just to be able to participate in the city’s solid waste residential recycling and collection events.   After having held the city contract in previous years, the contract was then awarded to Creative Recycling, our neighbors in Tampa, e-stewards and signers of the stewardship pledge, pledging to only recycle domestically, only having to eventually, shamefully go out of business for getting caught for dumping waste abroad.  Our contract with the city was not renewed in our opinion, due to the fact that we had not yet committed to a formal e-steward membership, or to an R2 Certification, unlike other companies that even after signing the pledge were still exporting focus materials.    We do not export hazardous material, incinerate, use prison labor, are very strict about our customers’ private information, and are proud to say that we have diverted millions of pounds of hazardous toxins from our landfills since company inception in 1993.

Our company has never been offered financial assistance from EPA grants, nonprofit organizations, Consortium Foundations, government assistance on any level or from any other financial institution, for helping us raise public awareness in promoting safe consumer electronics recycling.  Instead, we chose to remain independent to try to make it on our own, hoping that we wouldn’t have to answer to or follow anybody’s rules and regulations.  Nevertheless, in spite of all this and without funding assistance, we have grown into a company with huge potential, and at the present time in need of strong financial backing support from an investor with sufficient capital to take an interest in us and assist us with financial funds in order to be able to achieve certification, perhaps someone looking to run a Processing Facility, Asset Management, Electronics Processing Facility, Haulers or Waste Management Companies.  During present and recent times and throughout the history of e-waste, the local Waste Management in Jacksonville had been dumping their e-waste in Florida landfills.  I suppose they would rather poison our own landfills than to allow the reuse of equipment to go to poorer nations.  In tracing back to the year 2000, prior to Waste Management’s interest in the electronic scrap industry, and before Waste Management Recycle America Alliance e-cycling services  was formed, they used to refer customers with electronic scrap to us, as they did not have any other outlet or recycling resources other than landfilling.

Please be advised, our company has proper documentation proving there were signed business contracts dated  in March and November of 1999 for CRT recycling for the New England states of MA, VT and CT, and between Jack’s Recycling and Salvage, Jacksonville, Fl, and Freetown Transfer Facility in Spencer/ New Bedford, MA. These contracts were never acknowledged nor honored by either Peter Kopcych nor the Freetown Transfer Facility.  When our company requested financial assistance (in the form of a partnership or a possible merger) in previous years from Peter and his industry connections we were denied. 

While it is not our intention to pick on anyone in particular, we wanted part of our story to be told, as we feel  that our company in the past has been attacked, misunderstood and misrepresented by a few in the industry and non-industry alike.   Ignorance still exists and is very much alive in minds that are brainwashed into thinking that all o0utside of the USA is primitive and without sufficient intelligence to realize that the tech sector abroad make the best reuse technicians, and they are better at reusing and recycling, than the shredding that they call domestic recycling.   Afterall, the reuse is the finest form of recycling.

Oh well!   Ignorance has always been around and will always be available for those who wish to remain clueless in a world where knowledge is power.