MIC News

computer recycling market
By Elizabeth Suh, The Oregonian
October 06, 2009, 6:02PM

Abby Metty/The Oregonian Mikki Park and David Yim, co-founders of MIC Total Recycle in Forest Grove, stand in front of their shredding system, which safely destroys monitors and other electronics by keeping lead and mercury out of the air. The company is awaiting an opportunity to join a state recycling program, but has already invested in equipment and permits to sustain their operation. FOREST GROVE

Yim and an old school friend, Mikki Park, opened the doors to their electronics recycling business, MIC Total Recycle, early this year.

Park had stumbled into work at an electronics recycling company in Washington and said she was horrified to witness shipments sent to China being scavenged, burned and thrown away without protection for the people handling them or their environment.

So she decided to strike out on her own and opened a collection site in Kent, Wash.

The two invested $150,000 in renovating a former meat packing plant, painted it yellow, and MIC Total Recycle was born.

City officials welcomed the business.

“It’s a real opportunity to have this type of Oregon company,” said Jeff King, the city’s economic development director.

“They’re very committed to the community and very committed to true environmental jobs.”

But the going hasn’t been easy.

The same month MIC Total Recycle opened for business — in January –Oregon E-Cycles debuted, a state program that would bring in a flood of business for established recyclers.

E-Cycles recyclers receive reimbursement from electronics manufacturers for accepting computers, monitors and TVs for free.

MIC Total Recycle charges customers — generally $5 per item — to cover their costs.

Initially having hired seven people to disassemble computers, run paperwork and answer calls, the company’s momentum was quickly swept aside.

Park said their hopes now rest on their application to join the program next year.

In MIC’s warehouse in Forest Grove’s industrial south side, piles of power cords, motherboards and hard drives sit in boxes near a large green shredding machine. MIC sends most of the pieces to local processors who smelt metals into raw material or turn them into products.

The company fires up its shredder to destroy hard drives and break down leaded cathode ray tubes — the glassy bulk of TV and computer monitors — for shipment to a smelter in South Korea.

In the meantime, MIC has opened a computer repair and refurbishment shop in Beaverton, David OK Computers, that employs four people and sells computers for as little as $79.

The company is the first electronics recycler to receive a solid waste permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality. The DEQ created the new permit process for companies that shred cathode ray tubes after MIC Total Recycle approached them. The permits require recyclers to follow environmental and safety standards.

While most of the six recyclers in Oregon E-Cycles are based out of state, they do much of their recycling in Oregon, said Kathy Kiwala, Oregon E-Cycles manager.

Homegrown businesses are important, Kiwala said, but “the thing that we’re really driving for in this program is the materials are managed in a safe and environmentally sound manner.”

Electronics manufacturers and a state contractor, the National Center for Electronics Recycling, accept new recyclers periodically.

MIC is hoping to forge local partnerships.

Merix Corporation, a circuit board manufacturer down the street from MIC, needs specialized recyclers for its circuit boards, but they could use MIC for old office electronics, said Ben Nelson, an environmental compliance specialist. Merix has sent one shipment to MIC already.

Yim said he’s trying to support the city that supported him when he ran his convenience store and when he launched MIC.

“People help me, so when I make some money, I’m gonna reimburse them,” Yim said.

If business goes the way he’d like, he hopes to employ up to 80 people and turn the site into a destination: build a playground and museum for antique computers — Yim collects them — and welcome school field trips.

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Forest Grove firm ready to E-cycle
New venture will recycle or refurbish electronic equipment
By John Schrag

The Forest Grove News-Times, Jan 14, 2009, Updated Jan 14, 2009 David Ok Yim, co-owner of MIC Total Recycle, gets some ribbon-cutting tips from Mayor Richard Kidd.

John Schrag / News-Times

If Santa left a new PC under your tree, there’s a way for you to keep your old computer and monitor out of the landfill.

MIC Total Recycle, a recycler of electronic waste, held its grand opening Monday in Forest Grove. The facility, located at 1280 Fern Hill Road (across from Fernhill Wetlands), will dismantle or refurbish the computers and component parts.

MIC will collect most electronic items, including computers, monitors and peripherals, televisions, phones, fax machines, audio/stereo components, DVD players and more.

The cost of recycling ranges from $5 for PCs and small printers to $50 for 40″ TVs. Some items, including laptops and stereos, will be taken for no charge.

Broken or obsolete equipment will get shredded on site and shipped to Korea, where the materials will be sorted and recycled. MIC plans to refurbish reusable computers and other electronic equipment which will then be donated to low-income families, senior living facilities and other charitable organizations – or resold at minimal cost.

In addition to the processing facility in Forest Grove, the company plans to add a small retail store in Portland and Beaverton, eventually employing up to 15 people.

Forest Grove Mayor Richard G. Kidd said the shredding component makes the operation unique in Oregon. He praised the company for adding new jobs and advancing the city’s goal of “becoming a greener and environmentally sustainable region.”

The MIC Forest Grove facility will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 pm, Monday through Friday and 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Saturdays.