# Equipment Used in computer recycling



## shanefleming (May 18, 2011)

Hello, sorry to be asking another quesion about computer recycling but i have been looking everywhere for this information and still no luck.

So what machinery is used in the recycling process and where can i buy it.


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## jimdoc (May 18, 2011)

I use screwdrivers and a hammer.

Jim


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## jeneje (May 18, 2011)

I use a bandsaw and a troybuilt shedder along with ballmills, agitators and hand tools. Oh a must is a fume hood and scrubbers. Check pawnshops and flea markets.

:mrgreen:


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## Claudie (May 18, 2011)

shanefleming said:


> Hello, sorry to be asking another quesion about computer recycling but i have been looking everywhere for this information and still no luck.
> 
> So what machinery is used in the recycling process and where can i buy it.




This site is more about precious metal refining than it is about computer recycling. If you do a search on youtube.com for "computer recycling" you can watch several videos showing everything from the guy in his garage to the big boys who do hundreds of computers per day. If you do a google search at google.com for "computer recyclers", you can visit their sites. Many of them will have pictures or videos to watch of the process in action.


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## shanefleming (May 18, 2011)

Thats the thing i will be processing around 5000-10000 computers per month and ive looked though alot of websites and they have nothing on there machinery :/


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## Claudie (May 18, 2011)

You are jumping into a 5000-10,000 unit per month business and you know nothing about it? Good luck with that....


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## 4metals (May 18, 2011)

I was at a place last month where they process 30 tons a day and it is all mechanical. They run the cpu's up a conveyor into a series of shredders and then run them across magnetic separators and density separators which are fine tuned to separate copper from aluminum and plastic from insulation. 

It is amazing to see, and not cheap to set up.


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## shanefleming (May 19, 2011)

i know its not cheap to set up i have £300,000 to set it up. But i need to know the names of the machinery or where they get it

And im not just jumping into it i process small amounts now but i hav got a large contract.


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## Claudie (May 19, 2011)

I would think a building with a concrete floor would be a necessity as well as a fork lift to move pallets, a plastic baler, and some tables for disassembling computers. Are you planning to process CRT monitors? If so, that opens another door into equipment. More important than the equipment may be getting buyers for your scrap lined up. You want to know where it is going before you have the building full and more coming in. Just my thoughts.

Claude


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## Fournines (May 19, 2011)




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## Claudie (May 19, 2011)

What is that? :|


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## Fournines (May 19, 2011)

Claudie said:


> What is that? :|



Just recommending some equipment to dismantle computers. :lol:


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## Claudie (May 19, 2011)

How does it work? I don't see a power cord so I assuming there are batteries?


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## shanefleming (May 19, 2011)

Claudie said:


> How does it work? I don't see a power cord so I assuming there are batteries?



lol

Thank you claudie for your information and yes i will be processing CRT's and im in the process of getting buyers in the UK and ireland anyone interested PM :lol:


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## glondor (May 19, 2011)

I think it is solar powered. :lol:


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## joem (May 19, 2011)

I've got one of those, it's wireless with WiFi


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## copperkid_18 (May 19, 2011)

Mine has bluetooth! :lol:


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## joem (May 19, 2011)

copperkid_18 said:


> Mine has bluetooth! :lol:


Good thing. Because you must have had quite a head ache after answering an incoming call.


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## shanefleming (May 19, 2011)

is it just me or has this went extremely out of topic xD
or is the sledge thats solar powered, has wifi and has blue-tooth really the best option xD


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## joem (May 19, 2011)

ok
I use regular hand tools, plyers, screw drivers, pry bars, safety glasses, gloves, tin snips, and most not mentioned here, sorting boxes.


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## Claudie (May 19, 2011)

Watch this video, it may give you an idea about the monitors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8VfcmKDLiw

Claude


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## 4metals (May 19, 2011)

Simple, you need one of these, http://www.ssiworld.com/applications/applications2-en.htm

followed by one of these, http://www.sjsystems.com/separation.aspx

then manual picking is optional.

No monitors in the feed!


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## glondor (May 20, 2011)

I mostly try to use my kids........ :twisted:


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## gold4mike (May 20, 2011)

I've enlisted the help of my wife and also my mother-in-law. They both say they enjoy pulling pins from connectors while they're watching TV.

Between them they've pulled over 17 pounds of pins from ribbon cable connectors.


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## Smack (May 20, 2011)

Too bad your not in the States, you could hire a bunch of illegals for fifty cents an hour and turn them lose with a butter knife.


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## Smack (May 21, 2011)

Don't know about other places, but here the plastic on computers is referred to as ctx and is bringing .25 cents a lb.


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## Claudie (May 21, 2011)

Smack said:


> Don't know about other places, but here the plastic on computers is referred to as ctx and is bringing .25 cents a lb.




Where is "here"?


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## Smack (May 21, 2011)

I'm in Michigan


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## Claudie (May 22, 2011)

Smack said:


> Don't know about other places, but here the plastic on computers is referred to as ctx and is bringing .25 cents a lb.




I am in Iowa. I don't suppose you could give me more information about the plastic and where to sell it for the best price could you?


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## gold4mike (May 23, 2011)

That's been my toughest issue here in Ohio. I have two local facilities that use recycled plastic - one makes lawn edging, the other makes dock bumpers for loading docks. Neither one will take plastic from computers due to the little bits of metal that are often included. The metal damages the blades in their grinding equipment.

I currently include as much as I can get away with at the scrap yard when I sell my steel cases and then landfill the rest. I'd love to be able to say "nothing ends up in the landfill" when I take computers to recycle.

Are you willing to share your buyer with us?


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## rmi2416 (May 24, 2011)

www.greenmachinesales.com/new-recycling-systems.htm


This link is to an American manufacturer that specializes in what you are looking for. Good Luck this is the only company that does what it does that can offer you a package deal w/o having to hire your own engineering team to set it up.

Hope this helps,
Regards,
Ross


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## patnor1011 (May 24, 2011)

I already mentioned this company and I am bit surprised you didn't check them out. Not to mention that they will give you tour and show you their machinery - how they work.
http://www.jmcrecycling.com/

Your funding is limited so you will not be able to set up full automatic line where machines will do everything or most of the job. You have to decide which processes you want to have automatized and what you will do by using people. Solutions or machinery where you put escrap on one side and have everything sorted on other side are in millions of $£E. Those are designed mostly for say "not valuable" objects like phones, hi-fi, video, kitchen electrical appliances, washing machines.... Those recycling plants and machinery however good or expensive they are cant fully separate everything. It is for discussion which solution is the best to have:
1. plant with machinery costing millions running tons per day but getting less for whatever output they produce or
2. plant with more people which separate better so you get more for your final product
It also depend if you are going to specialize in computers only. If you will be running only PC and say CRT it may be less expensive to set up some recycling line. Not every machine is suitable for everything. If you plan to recycle everything classified as WEEE then your costs to set up operations will be higher again.


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## jeneje (May 24, 2011)

glondor said:


> I mostly try to use my kids........ :twisted:


Lucky you....Mine are grown and don't play that...lol :lol: 

Ken


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## jeneje (May 24, 2011)

Smack said:


> Don't know about other places, but here the plastic on computers is referred to as ctx and is bringing .25 cents a lb.



Where are you selling plastic for .25 if you don;t mind me asking I have a bunch of it.

Ken


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## jeneje (May 24, 2011)

gold4mike said:


> That's been my toughest issue here in Ohio. I have two local facilities that use recycled plastic - one makes lawn edging, the other makes dock bumpers for loading docks. Neither one will take plastic from computers due to the little bits of metal that are often included. The metal damages the blades in their grinding equipment.
> 
> I currently include as much as I can get away with at the scrap yard when I sell my steel cases and then landfill the rest. I'd love to be able to say "nothing ends up in the landfill" when I take computers to recycle.
> 
> Are you willing to share your buyer with us?



There is a place in Columbus that will by it as long as it is seperated. I will try and find the number for you and pm it.

Ken


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## gold4mike (May 25, 2011)

Thanks Ken, that would be great. I make occasional trips to Columbus anyhow so it wouldn't require a special trip.


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## rasanders22 (Jun 26, 2011)

jeneje said:


> glondor said:
> 
> 
> > I mostly try to use my kids........ :twisted:
> ...



Your lucky. Mine are 4 and 2 and hide all my tools from me.

Out of 5 tape measures I can currently only find one. and its metric.


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## Geo (Jun 27, 2011)

most recycling of eletronic scrap should be done by hand till the electronics come out.a shredder or mill will only make a mess of things if the peices are threw in whole.PM recovery is a very tedious busisness (its kind of like skinning a bee for the wax).just think of an assembly line in reverse.invest in pneumatic tools like ratchets and chisels.remember that scrap doesnt have to look pretty as long as it comes apart.every peice of scrap has value whether its metal or plastic or paper,its just finding the market for your product.i found that flatpacks and ICB's and some fiber CPU's do very well in a ball mill if you first bake the oil out of the plastic.this can be done in a furnace very simply and cost effective with a little know how.also theres a double walled furnace that you can bake your depopulated boards in and even small copper wire without oxidizing the wire and losing copper weight,with copper at several $ per pound its worth looking into.lastly find some hard working people that will work all day turning screws for a reasonable wage,it takes a special kind of person thats able to do that without going nuts.


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