Is the metal recycling industry a new trend? The metal recycling business is very profitable! As technology continues to change everyday, consumers are finding it harder and harder to keep up with the Jones....
As technology continues to change everyday, consumers are finding it harder and harder to keep up with the Jones.
It used to be that when some new electronic gizmo hit the market, consumers would get tired of the new toy before long and regulate it to the junk drawer with other useless items. But, with technology growing faster than we as consumers can purchase the newest toys, that useless junk drawer is beginning to fill up with things that aren't as useless as they used to be.
It used to be that when some new electronic gizmo hit the market, consumers would get tired of the new toy before long and regulate it to the junk drawer with other useless items. But, with technology growing faster than we as consumers can purchase the newest toys, that useless junk drawer is beginning to fill up with things that aren't as useless as they used to be.
Take computers and cell phones for example.
As soon as the newest and most elegant computer or cell phone hits the market, one smaller and more durable goes on sale shortly thereafter. Since no one wants to be walking around with last month's cell phone, consumers are forced to run out and purchase the latest version.
So what happens to the old equipment?
With no sign of the advancement of technology slowing down anytime soon, the metal recycling industry has grown to enormous heights in the last few years.
Becky Harwell is the owner of Axcess Technologies, an electronic recycling center in Austin, Texas. She has been involved in electronic recycling for ten years and said that the metal recycling industry is on a steady rise.
"It's an emerging industry," she said. "There are very few companies that can address both aspects of this market. Obviously, they are very diverse markets. The scrap market is entirely different from an equipment market. It requires very specific expertise."
The days of just dumping your old computer on the side of the road for trash pickup have long passed. Today, consumers are encouraged to recycle their old computers so that schools, charities and other nonprofit organizations will have the opportunity to use the equipment.
But before consumers start flooding recycling bins with everything electronic from their closets, they should first know a few tips and pointers to help with the process.
Before heading out, first decide if your computer is recyclable. If your computer is less than five years old then there is a good chance that it can be put to good use by someone else.
Now, most metal recyclers will tell you to drop your computer off at a nonprofit refurbisher as opposed to a school or nonprofit organization itself. That way, if the computer is not up to standard, the refurbisher can make the necessary changes before donating it to the school.
While most would rather donate a computer directly to a school or a nonprofit organization, it can eventually end up costing the school money to have the computer made compatible.
"In addition to de-manufacture, we can also re-manufacture systems," she said. "Say a system comes in with a card or something like that that has failed. We can replace the card and put in back into the market. So our sales force has to be very, very involved."
