Processing

At MER your electronic equipment has two possible fates. Newer equipment is offered for sale to a second user after it has been refurbished, cleaned of asset tags, and the data storage devices sanitized. Older, obsolete, or broken equipment is de-manufactured into its individual component parts for recycling.

MER has two recycling facilities in Iowa. The three-acre, four-building, 40,000-square foot facility in Walford houses our state-of-the-art CRT processor; sorting, de-manufacturing and refurbishment. The Clive facility collects, refurbishes, and de-manufactures electronics on a smaller scale.

E-waste can be broken down into four main material categories; scrap metal and wire, mixed plastics, printed circuit boards, and leaded glass. MER separates e-waste into 29 specific types of materials for more efficient recycling.

• Metals such as steel, iron, and aluminum go to a local scrap metal processor.
• Copper and scrap wire is collected for reuse.
• Plastics are separated and sent to be granulated for making new products from recycled plastic.
• Printed circuit boards are sent to smelters for extraction of the precious metals.
• Leaded glass is not recovered for material value but is processed to reduce its environmental impact. The glass called cullet is sent to a lead smelter for recovery.