BUSINESS OF THE WEEK: E-Waste Systems
By JIM MILLER jmiller@fltimes.com | Updated 13 hours ago
GENEVA — E-Waste Systems has 50,000 square feet of space ... and it’s almost all full.
“It’s TVs as far as you can see,” General Manager Don Cass stated.
While that’s true, there are also piles of printers and computers, mounds of microwaves and at least one electronic organ with wires sticking out where the case used to be.
E-Waste, which formerly operated as 2trg, recycles electronics of all kinds. The 3-year-old business accepts e-waste free of charge and makes its money by selling its components, including copper wire, plastic and aluminum.
On Tuesday, about 1 million pounds of electronics in various states of disassembly occupied its facility at the old American Can Co. on Genesee Street.
“Five years ago, that stuff was just getting thrown in a landfill,” Cass said.
E-Waste Systems, which is based in London, operates recycling facilities on three continents.
Cass said it acquired 2trg’s assets in December and that the new ownership brought a lot of positive changes to the local facility, which operates in space leased from the city Industrial Development Agency.
“Money was a problem before, and money is much less of an issue now,” he said.
Cass, Geneva’s former mayor, helped bring e-waste recycling to Geneva not long after he left office. He knew 2trg’s former owner and was talking to her at a wedding about her plans to expand into the Northeast.
“I suggested she come here, not knowing that I’d be running it,” Cass said.
After being picked as general manager, Cass found himself on what he called a three-year learning curve. He had to get a handle on sales, recycling and the logistics of trucking. He even had to learn how to operate a forklift.
In its first year, the business employed three people and handled 500,000 pounds of e-waste. This year, it employs 16 people and is on track to handle 4 million pounds.
“It just amazes me the stuff that people throw away,” Cass said. “We’ve had old-fashioned stereos coming in, old-fashioned sewing machines — you know, the really old ones with a wooden case.”
Currently, old-style televisions with vacuum tubes account for 65 to 70 percent of the company’s business. They demand careful handling because the tubes can implode.
“Industry wide, it’s a huge issue,” Cass said.
E-Waste also accepts computers, which require their own kind of special handling. Because the hard drives may contain sensitive information, they are kept behind two locked doors.
Then, the company shreds the hard drives.
“They’re in pieces the size of a silver dollar,” Cass said.
E-Waste accepts electronics during business hours at its Genesee Street location. It also holds regular collection events across the Finger Lakes and upstate New York.
Once collected or dropped off, items come into the warehouse through the loading dock. Employees then weigh and sort everything, disassembling what’s necessary.
Some items are fairly simple — printers, for example, only need the paper and ink cartridges removed. Others take more time. However, the result is always the same.
“We are e-stewards,” Cass said. “Nothing at all can go in a landfill.”
Cass believes televisions will keep the business going for at least 10 or 15 years. And, he’s already starting to see newer forms of e-waste, such as smart phones, which may become a bigger part of the business in the future.
E-Waste only has to turn away a few things, Cass said — mainly items like air conditioners or refrigerators that contain freon.
“Other than those, there’s very little that we can’t take,” he said
By JIM MILLER jmiller@fltimes.com | Updated 13 hours ago
GENEVA — E-Waste Systems has 50,000 square feet of space ... and it’s almost all full.
“It’s TVs as far as you can see,” General Manager Don Cass stated.
While that’s true, there are also piles of printers and computers, mounds of microwaves and at least one electronic organ with wires sticking out where the case used to be.
E-Waste, which formerly operated as 2trg, recycles electronics of all kinds. The 3-year-old business accepts e-waste free of charge and makes its money by selling its components, including copper wire, plastic and aluminum.
On Tuesday, about 1 million pounds of electronics in various states of disassembly occupied its facility at the old American Can Co. on Genesee Street.
“Five years ago, that stuff was just getting thrown in a landfill,” Cass said.
E-Waste Systems, which is based in London, operates recycling facilities on three continents.
Cass said it acquired 2trg’s assets in December and that the new ownership brought a lot of positive changes to the local facility, which operates in space leased from the city Industrial Development Agency.
“Money was a problem before, and money is much less of an issue now,” he said.
Cass, Geneva’s former mayor, helped bring e-waste recycling to Geneva not long after he left office. He knew 2trg’s former owner and was talking to her at a wedding about her plans to expand into the Northeast.
“I suggested she come here, not knowing that I’d be running it,” Cass said.
After being picked as general manager, Cass found himself on what he called a three-year learning curve. He had to get a handle on sales, recycling and the logistics of trucking. He even had to learn how to operate a forklift.
In its first year, the business employed three people and handled 500,000 pounds of e-waste. This year, it employs 16 people and is on track to handle 4 million pounds.
“It just amazes me the stuff that people throw away,” Cass said. “We’ve had old-fashioned stereos coming in, old-fashioned sewing machines — you know, the really old ones with a wooden case.”
Currently, old-style televisions with vacuum tubes account for 65 to 70 percent of the company’s business. They demand careful handling because the tubes can implode.
“Industry wide, it’s a huge issue,” Cass said.
E-Waste also accepts computers, which require their own kind of special handling. Because the hard drives may contain sensitive information, they are kept behind two locked doors.
Then, the company shreds the hard drives.
“They’re in pieces the size of a silver dollar,” Cass said.
E-Waste accepts electronics during business hours at its Genesee Street location. It also holds regular collection events across the Finger Lakes and upstate New York.
Once collected or dropped off, items come into the warehouse through the loading dock. Employees then weigh and sort everything, disassembling what’s necessary.
Some items are fairly simple — printers, for example, only need the paper and ink cartridges removed. Others take more time. However, the result is always the same.
“We are e-stewards,” Cass said. “Nothing at all can go in a landfill.”
Cass believes televisions will keep the business going for at least 10 or 15 years. And, he’s already starting to see newer forms of e-waste, such as smart phones, which may become a bigger part of the business in the future.
E-Waste only has to turn away a few things, Cass said — mainly items like air conditioners or refrigerators that contain freon.
“Other than those, there’s very little that we can’t take,” he said
