Pledging to protect the environment with a TRUE Green Solution, UNICOR offers nationwide and economical recycling of computer and electronics items. Our recycling factories are ISO-9001:2000 Certified, IAER Certified and permitted where required. The environmentally sound processing of computer and electronics equipment, health and safety of our workers is paramount.
UNICOR Recycling Web Video Transcript
Narrator: Within the next 5 years, more than 250 million computers will become obsolete, producing 9 billion pounds of e-scrap and posing enormous environmental concerns. Turning waste into a commodity from de-manufacturing into residual materials, or reconditioning for reuse, the Recycling Business Group is responding to the challenge.
With nationwide locations and nearly 1,200 highly trained workers, UNICOR offers:
- exceptional value
- reduced transportation costs
- improved e-scrap process
- competitive pricing
- environmental compliance
- surge capacity
- flexibility
UNICOR’s unique full service recycling program is an integrated part of a national e-scrap solution.
Staff Member: "We bring this equipment in and we try to refurbish or recycle it to keep it out of the landfills."
Narrator: Our factories are regulated and operate in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local EPA regulations, with full time safety managers, 3rd party inspections by OSHA (state, federal, and the EPA), state permitting, annual complete environmental compliance testing, monthly safety training and instructions.
To further insure safe work practices, all staff attend outside OSHA compliance and workplace safety training. Additionally, we provide our workers with medical testing to insure their health and safety.
Staff Member: "Our commitment to the environment exceeds beyond our factories. We require our vendors to sign a ‘no landfill certification’ and to follow a restrictive export policy."
Our processing methods begin with receiving, testing, and auditing equipment. Upon receiving equipment, careful documentation of the source of the generator, material weight, and number of units occurs. All asset tags and property stickers are removed before any equipment is mined for parts, resold, or donated. Equipment is then moved to the testing area where it is assessed for reusability, or deemed non-functional. During this process, UNICOR adheres to strict security and integrity measures with high level DOD wiping procedures of all hard drives, and equipment is reviewed for CD ROM and floppies with personal or classified data.
If the equipment is deemed non-functional, it is carefully mined for components that can be reused in the reconditioning and refurbishing process.
Once all parts are removed, our workers begin the recycling process to break down the equipment into residual materials. Components are carefully segregated by commodity materials such as:
- power supplies
- insulated wires
- floppy drives
- CD ROM drives
- circuit boards
- ferrous and non ferrous metals
- and plastics.
These materials are then collected and will be sent to the next staging area for completion of the recycling process, and then sold to carefully screened re-processors as residual material.
Everyone has a role to play in promoting the increased reuse of equipment, and at UNICOR we are dedicated to reduce the amount of material that is reprocessed by reconditioning functional equipment and recapturing valuable resources. With this in mind, our facilities have trained workers that clean and resurface CRT monitors for reuse, burn tests for quality assurance, and rebuild.
As stewards of the environment, UNICOR is committed to energy and resource conservation through reuse whenever possible. The Recycling Business Group provides essential training to workers, giving them the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the environment while meeting the challenge of reclamation.