Haz-Mert Raises Computers From the Grave

A computer that goes to a landfill to die is a problem, for at least a couple of reasons: It’s taking up valuable landfill space and it’s full of toxic waste — to say nothing of the reclaimable and recyclable metals.

And then there’s the matter of security, making sure that the hard drive has been wiped clean of any confidential information.

Haz-Mert Inc., the Rogers-based environmental contracting company, has begun offering a disposal service for EOL computers. Those, explains Shannon Weathers, Haz-Mert’s founder, are computers that are classified as “end of life” because they can no longer be refurbished, upgraded or otherwise enhanced.

Weathers says computers contain plenty of materials that can be recycled. There’s cadmium, nickel, gold, titanium and palladium as well as lead and plastic. Monitors contain a great deal of lead — that’s what makes them so heavy, Weathers says — to help shield users from radiation.

Haz-Mert has only recently branched into the computer recycling business. Founded in 1993, the company’s services include safety training, hazardous waste brokering and transportation, and handling of household hazardous wastes.

It was the company’s experience with latex paints that led it to recycling, Weathers says. Leftover latex paints that are collected are refiltered, repackaged and sold under Haz-Mert’s own label, Enviro-Paint, at just $4 a gallon.

“It’s a real good latex paint, especially for priming drywall,” Weathers says.

“That got us into the recycling mode,” he says. “We’ve got a couple of customers that need hard plastics [so] we invested in a granulator, which [cost] a little over $60,000.”

Weathers says Haz-Mert has a full-disassembly facility.

“We completely disassemble the units. All metals are sent to different recycling markets and the plastic is ground up into a form that can be used by plastic extruder people to make new computer cases.” The result is plastic granules that are about three-eighths inch in diameter.

It’s a labor-intensive operation that takes about 35 minutes per unit, which includes the computer processing unit, monitor, mouse and keyboard, Weathers says.

To help defray the initial capital outlay for the granulator, Haz-Mert has been charging businesses $10 for each complete unit. Businesses receive a certificate showing that the units have been recycled and work orders stating when each unit was picked up, processed and the materials shipped out.

Needed service

Phil Porter is president of Arvest Bank operations, which oversees that company’s computer network. Although Porter wasn’t aware of Haz-Mert’s computer disassembly operation, he says such a service would be valuable.

“I definitely think there is an opportunity out there,” says Porter. Arvest has about 2,500 personal computers in its network and the company recently replaced about a thousand of those units, obviously a significant number.

Many of those that were replaced were donated to schools; others were kept in the system but assigned to users with less-intensive computing needs. Still others are “probably still sitting around in various little pockets,” Porter says.

Before releasing its computers, Arvest first wiped each system clean, clearing it of all confidential information, Porter says.

“Our challenge is … to be able to channel PCs. We’ll always have high-end users who needs the most robust systems … but then there are people like me who don’t run as many applications,” he says about reassigning the units.