A Vancouver recycling company recycles unwanted electronics

Norman Helgason / [email protected]

Earth Friendly Recycling in Vancouver ensures that used electronic equipment does not end up in landfillsh renovation and destruction of old devices.

Eric Howell founded the family business in 2011 to facilitate the recycling of specialty items. It was a confusing experience for the family to distinguish what specialized recyclers could and could not accept. Howell started Earth Friendly Recycling to make the process easier. As a former chemical technician, Howell applied his knowledge to recycling specialty items, including electronics.

“For specialist recyclers like us, we pride ourselves on ensuring that everything that comes here has a very high rate of recovery,” Howell said. “More than 95% of what comes here is properly recycled and doesn’t end up in landfill.”

Father’s landiendly Recycling offers a data destruction service for electronic devices. Sensitive data is never visible during this process, and hard drives are stored in secure locations in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Electronics sent for recycling that cannot be refurbished go to specialist shredders in the North West. At these facilities, electronics, including computers and smartphones, are broken down into basic components and ultimately melted down into ingots for reuse.

Howell said 10% of electronics recycled end up being repaired and refurbished. The company sells reusable phones, laptops and tablets on its website. Earth Friendly Recycling lowers the price or auctions refurbished items that cannot be sold. All data is deleted before renewal.

“The first thing (the staff does) is make sure there is no data left on the equipment, so they take the hard drive out, shred it, and we buy new hard drives online to include with all our refurbished equipment,” Howell said.

Many refurbished electronic devices are components of personal computers, including computer processors, graphics cards and random-access memory cards. For privacy reasons, motherboards and hard drives are destroyed by default. Howell said local residents looking to build a personal computer can find a number of low-cost reuse options on the company’s website.

Earth Friendly Recycling does not accept disposable light bulbs or batteries. Howell recommends that residents schedule special pickup with Waste Connections for hazardous materials recycling. Additionally, the recycling team will not accept gas-powered devices, oil heaters or used printer toners.

Earth Friendly Recycling, located at 11825 NE 113th St. Suite 100 in Vancouver, subject to a $7 pickup fee. It is open from 9:00 to 14:00 from Wednesday to Friday and from 10:00 to 14:00 on Saturday and Sunday. The company offers pickup for a flat rate of $69 regardless of size on Mondays, with an additional $25 fee for large appliances and TVs. People can learn more about Earth Friendly Recycling’s services or purchase refurbished electronics at Earth Friendlyrecycling.net or call 360-433-8575 for more information.