Hello scappers worldwide,
Just discovered this forum, and because I'm actively involved in ewaste scrapping,
I thought I'd join and say hello, and tell a little of what I do.
I belong to a group called The Wanneroo Community Men's Shed - wcmenshed.org,
( bunch of old farts) and we refurbish PCs donated by local government, schools,
other organisations etc.
Our prime objective is to provide licensed, working computers to needy people in the
community who qualify. We install a new O/S only on suitable PCs. This leaves us with
varying numbers of PCs and other electronic equipment which is not reuseable. My
now deceased father was an avid recycler, spending Saturdays and Sundays in his
shed dismantling all sorts of stuff and separating it into piles in readiness for the
scrapman.
That model has become our group's saviour as far as ewaste is concerned. We now scrap
down to the last screw, including hard disk drives, and until recently we dismantled even
floppy and optical drives etc.
The whole operation is bringing in some much needed funds, but that is secondary to
the fun and joy our members have in breaking down this ewaste. I think subconciously
they enjoy the dismantling process knowing full well that the gear never needs to be
reassembled. We have yet to take the step to finness our operation, ie., separate the
different CPU types etc., but we do press copper cores from aluminium heat sinks,
and some guys strip wire from transformers. All cables are "topped and tailed" and
separated too. Different scrap dealers have been instrumental in providing advice
such as removing batteries from mainboards etc., which enhances their value.
We are currently looking at ways of crushing the PC cases which are too voluminous
to make it worthwhile to take a load to our local scrap depot. One device we have
seen is a wool (bale) press which the owner has tested by crushing a 44 gallon steel
drum. His asking price is a little out of our range at the moment, so we will continue
to accumulate the cases. The other problem is disposal of plastic. We have so far not
found anyone who will take it even for free, and we accumulate several big bulker bags
per month.
Scrapping is viable and works for our group because our members give freely of their
time in exchange for the cameradery they enjoy, and the knowledge that they are
doing something for the environment which is more than lip service.
Anyone reading this is welcome to contact me with suggestions and comments.
Cheers
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