What is "Ultimate Certification"?

Ultimate Environmental Certification is TeleCycle’s collective label of 5 distinct certifications: ISO14001:2004 (Environmental Management System), ISO9001:2008 (Quality Management System with Environmental Overlay), R2 (Responsible Recycling), OSHA18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management System), and RIOS (Recycling Industry Operating Standard). These certifications validate our commitment to helping our clients achieve their asset disposition objectives and simultaneously be environmentally responsible.

What is the Zero Landfill Policy?

The Zero Landfill Policy is a policy that we adhere to that ensures absolutely no end products of our processes are sent to the landfill. Equipment and their materials may be recycled and reused, refurbished and remarketed, or separately treated at off-site specialized processing plants for hazardous materials.

What is e-waste?

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is loosely applied to consumer and business electronic equipment that is near or at the end of its useful life. The amount of old electronics that are discarded every year is rapidly increasing. With lower prices and rapidly changing technology, computers, phones and TVs now have very short life spans.

Is "e-waste" clearly defined?

There is no clear definition for e-waste; for instance whether or not items like microwave ovens and other similar appliances should be grouped into the category has not been established. TeleCycle can recycle a large variety of electronic equipment such as floppy drives, fans, PC boards, power supplies, telecom, adapters, cellular phones, hard drives, and monitors, etc.

Is "e-waste" considered hazardous?

Certain components of electronic products may contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, depending on their condition and density. For instance, California law currently views nonfunctioning CRTs (cathode ray tubes) from televisions and monitor as hazardous.

Why recycle?

Consider the following statistics:

• The United States now dumps between 300 million and 400 million electronic items per year, and less than 20% of that e-waste is recycled.
• E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste.
• Because computer processing power doubles roughly every two years, many old computers are being abandoned. In 2005, Americans discarded 47 million computers, up from 20 million in 1998.
• It is energy efficient to rebuild old computers, but only about 2% of computers ever find their way to a second user.
• Fewer than 20% of cell phones are recycled each year, but if we recycled just a million cell phones, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 1,368 cars off the road for a year.
• The European Union banned e-waste from landfills in the 1990's, and current laws hold manufacturers responsible for e-waste disposal. E-waste legislation in the United States is currently stalled at the state level. So far, just 24 states have passed or proposed take-back laws.

Due to the continuous advancement in technology, the amount of e-waste is bound to be increased on an annual basis. This suggests that recycling electronic equipment is becoming increasingly beneficial both environmentally and economically. Recycling can prevent hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, and cadmium from entering landfills so it is favorable for the environment. Many electronic devices contain components that may be reused or raw materials that are valuable such as precious metals, engineered plastics, and glass. Therefore, recycling makes economic sense because there is much value to be recovered from e-waste.

Why is data destruction necessary?

Improper disposition of electronic equipment that contains sensitive and confidential information may result in severe consequences and legal ramifications if the information is leaked to undesired third parties. As such, to minimize the risk of data leakage, data destruction is absolutely crucial in protecting the reputation of a business.

How does TeleCycle recycle its clients’ equipment?

Electronic waste from our clients is first collected. This collection of equipment then undergoes a process of sorting to differentiate the ones that will be refurbished and remarketed from the ones that will be de-manufactured. The former will be polished, renewed and reassembled to be remarketed. The latter will undergo a process of disassembly, shredding, and sorting to break down into its raw materials. These materials are sorted by type, post-processed to be finally sold to refineries, smelters and mills for their consumption.

Who can use the services provided by TeleCycle?

TeleCycle’s diverse clientele includes government agencies, educational institutions and companies that stem from and serve diverse business industries such as the IT and telecommunication industry, the finance, commerce and banking industries, the insurance industry and health care and transportation industries, to name a few. However, all types of businesses regardless of size and industry possess and use electronic equipment of some form - from general office IT equipment to industry specific equipment such as medical equipment and telecommunications equipment. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that TeleCycle can offer our services to almost any business in any industry.

What is the scope of work of TeleCycle?

TeleCycle offers a comprehensive and fully integrated suite of services to our clients. From on-site decommissioning and de-installation to transportation and logistics to recycling and remarketing, we cater to the full spectrum of asset management and disposition services. For more details regarding the services we offer, please visit the services page.

How can TeleCycle help in reducing carbon footprint?

By using the services provided by TeleCycle, our clients can reduce their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from electronic wastes and consequently minimize their carbon footprint.

We can help our clients reduce their GHG emissions through two major avenues – remarketing reusable electronic assets and recycling parts and materials. It is estimated that 55.78 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide (MTCO2) is generated per short ton of personal computers (PCs) through the process of manufacturing (sourced from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA). This means that each PC that is remarketed saves over 50 times its own weight in CO2 emissions simply due to the fact that it eliminates the need for manufacturing a new PC. Likewise, GHG emission reduction can be seen in the remarketing of other electronic assets in addition to PCs.

It is estimated by the EPA that in general, circuit boards contain somewhere in the order of 40 to 800 times the concentration of gold as that contained in ore mined from the earth, and 30 to 40 times the concentration of copper. These numbers become exponentially more significant considering that over 372 million electronic units weighing 3.6 million tons entered the waste stream in 2007 and 2008. Less than 14% of that was recycled; the rest went into landfills and incinerators. It is estimated that 2.26 MTCO2 can be reduced by the recycling of one short ton of PCs. Recycling 1 million laptops saves energy equivalent to taking 3657 homes off the grid for one full year (sourced from EPA). All of these figures demonstrate the vast potential for GHG reduction inherent in recycling. Therefore, TeleCycle’s recycling services can indubitably help our clients reduce their carbon footprint.

At TeleCycle, our goal is to not only be a carbon-neutral company, but be carbon-negative by helping our clients minimize their carbon footprint.