John Martorano remembers it clearly. A clearing in a county park's woods was lined with pine trees one side and spruce trees on the other. Ahead was a pile of what appeared to be mattresses.
"It really bothered me," he said.
As the entrepreneur got closer, he discovered it was actually a pile of old computer monitors. Not only did it upset him that this was dumped in a county park, but the business side of him figured the parts had to worth something.
He made a few phone calls and learned information that changed his life.
When an electronic device becomes trash, it starts its damage on the environment the moment it's crushed in the garbage truck. Pieces of cadmium, lead and mercury- all hazardous materials- break up and mix with the other garbage. Then, at the landfill, rain washes the materials into the aquifer.
Martorano sold his business to an employee and started a new business- Magnum Computer Recycling, also known as Thanks for Being Green. Seven years later, he now 14 staff members, is hiring and just added a third truck for collections.
"We're growing in leaps and bounds," he said. "Electronic recycling is the number one growth area in recycling."
This is because more and more municipalities, counties and states are making electronic recycling mandatory. In fact, as of last month, Magnum now takes care of the electronic recycling for all South Jersey counties from Burlington to Cape May. In 2012 alone, Magnum kept 6.4 million pounds out of landfills.
To go green with their electronic trash, families don't have to visit Magnum's facility near Cooper River in Pennsauken. They should first contact their township recycling or public works department for information, Martorano said. The county recycling coordinator can also direct families to the recycling options available. If families prefer to drop off at Magnum's facility, they can Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments should be made for help with larger items.
Magnum takes and sorts all types of items from computers to vacuum cleaners for recycling. The warehouse has rows of large cardboard boxes and pallets organized by size and type. They then dismantle those products with contaminants and parts worth more on their own. There are five products Magnum always dismantles:
- CPUs, which have 15 individual parts
- uninterrupted power supplies, which contain lead batteries
- digital cable boxes
- networking switches and hubs
- microwaves
Families also don't have to worry about sensitive information lingering on their devices. Hard drives are destroyed in three step process with surveillance cameras watching. Magnum will even destroy the hard drive as the client watches. Martorano said he has never had hard drive issues because of the standards they follow for destruction.
They bale cardboard, plastics, low-grade boards and light iron for recycling. Parts and pieces are taken to their respective shredders and refineries The facility has a two week turnaround on all items brought in.
The entire business produces less than one percent waste, and that is mostly food scraps.
With Earth Day coming up on April 22, Magnum will be busy at local events in both Cumberland and Camden Counties. At an event in Burlington County at the end of March, 700 cars of families lined up to recycle their electronics.
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