Finding a Home for E-Waste in Door County

Lee Kuehl didn’t start his recycling business with the typical paper, plastic and aluminum cans. He started in his garage, taking apart the computers that had become so pervasive at home and work.

“I saw a program that said e-waste [electronic waste] was the next big problem for our landfills, that heavy metals and lead and the toxins that are in these electronics were going be the next superfund [hazardous waste] problem,” Kuehl said. “I just started in my garage, taking computers apart as a hobby. It just kind of blossomed into a full-time job.”

Kuehl owns Norsec Computer Recyclers in Green Bay, and will collect electronics and appliances for Sister Bay and Liberty Grove’s Shredding/Appliance Recycling Day on June 15 at the Liberty Grove Town Hall and the Immanuel Lutheran Church’s recycling event in Baileys Harbor on June 1.

This will be Liberty Grove’s third electronics recycling day, an event that was started because so many residents called asking about getting rid of old appliances. The event is still popular, and town treasurer Janet Johnson said she has to turn away people from other municipalities because so much material comes from just the town and village.

“Norsec has actually had to call for an extra trailer to come up because they have so much stuff,” Johnson said. “It’s very well attended.”

Jim Oberley, who owns Cyber Green with his wife Linda Hansen, is collecting the material for the Baylake Bank and Town of Gibraltar electronic recycling fundraisers. The couple also owns Cyber Works, a computer company in Green Bay. Hansen was inspired to open the business by customers who would come in hoping to unload unwanted computer materials, and by the bad reputation of some electronics recyclers who allegedly dump dangerous materials in poor countries’ landfills.

Some of the materials in electronics, such as lead and Freon, are dangerous when released into the environment, so the state’s 2009 electronics recycling law bans them from being dumped in a landfill or burned in an incinerator. TVs, computers, printers, DVD players, cell phones and fax machines are some items that can’t be dumped or burned.

Oberley and Hansen want to be sure the materials they collect and separate are used well, so Cyber Green sends their materials to recycling companies that keep the materials in the U.S.

“We make sure they’re being utilized here in our country and the stuff’s being handled correctly – it’s not being buried in the back 40 somewhere,” Oberley said.

Cyber Green and Norsec basically accept anything with a plug – from fans to toasters to curling irons. The companies have to charge to accept some things, such as televisions, because they’re made with dangerous materials that cost money to dispose of.

After Cyber Green and Norsec collect the appliances, they dismantle them and separate the parts. Then they sell the separated material to processors who smelt it and sell it for reuse.

Kuehl sends PVC plastic to a company that turns it into hard-side motorcycle luggage, and metals to companies around the region who can use the old metal.

“Some of it gets shipped down to Madison, some of it gets shipped to Ohio, but a lot of it stays locally in our community,” Kuehl said.

Oberley said steel is the most common material he collects, and after it’s smelted is turned into just about any consumer product, he said, like bed frames or cars. Copper is another common material, and is often turned into wire, or used in radiators.

Kuehl has noticed a steady increase in recycling during the seven years he’s been in business. He expects to recycle 750,000 pounds of electronics this year, a big increase from his first year in business.

“I think everybody’s educated about [e-waste] now, educated about the damage it’s going to do to our landfills,” Kuehl said. “I think a lot more people are environmentally conscious, especially a lot of people in my generation. When I was born, the Cuyahoga River started on fire. Hearing stories like that coming through school made you be more conscious about what we’re doing to the environment.”