News
"Gary Laird, solid waste director for Weber County, could not say for sure how much material Stone Castle helps keep out of the county landfill, but acknowledged that it makes a significant contribution to waste reduction."
We've implemented a new website to serve you better!
Propane Bottle & Bottles, canister
Ogden Standard Examiner: Plugged into green
"Gary Laird, solid waste director for Weber County, could not say for sure how much material Stone Castle helps keep out of the county landfill, but acknowledged that it makes a significant contribution to waste reduction."
Plugged into green: Ogden recycling company finds reusable material from old electronics
Sunday, May 20, 2007
By Jeff DeMoss
Standard-Examiner staff
jdemoss@standard.net
OGDEN -- The local landfill is usually seen as the final resting place for our refuse, but that isn't always the case.
Many of those old computers, black and white TVs and other electronic devices end up at Stone Castle Recycling, a 16-year old Ogden business where bundles of 1970s vacuum cleaners mingle with piles of old toasters, all waiting to be broken down into raw materials, recycled, resold and reborn into new consumer products.
Landfills cannot accept old monitors, so if one turns up, it will probably end up at Stone Castle after landfill employees sort through the tons of "trash" that come into local waste transfer stations, removing any materials deemed reusable.
"We provide end-of-life management for old materials," Owner Tony Stoddard said. "The landfills come to us."
So do local schools, businesses, cities, other recycling companies -- just about anyone who needs to get rid of old or unused products.
The company can process nearly any material, not just the metals, plastics and glass that make up electronics, although it found a niche about six years ago when it started specializing in electronics.
"Specializing in electronics has helped us set ourselves apart," Stoddard said.
"Recycling is a cutthroat industry. We base our profit margins on a half-cent down to a quarter-cent per pound."
Stone Castle offers free pick-up service throughout the state, although it makes sure truck drivers can get a full load, often by making several stops, before sending them out.
The company's 3-acre site in the Ogden Commercial Industrial Park includes a 20,000-square-foot sorting and processing operation, "and we use 110 percent of it," he said.
Its 15 employees process 60,000 pounds of material daily, about two-thirds of which is shipped out as "finished" product.
Gary Laird, solid waste director for Weber County, could not say for sure how much material Stone Castle helps keep out of the county landfill, but acknowledged that it makes a significant contribution to waste reduction. And unlike the food and other organic waste the comes to the landfill, the types of materials the company takes would otherwise become permanent fixtures at the dump, Laird said.
Stone Castle is one of several area businesses that have found success in the world of "post-consumer mining," or the recycling of discarded items into raw plastics, metals and other materials that can be used to make everything from gold jewelry to those mottled plastic wheels on your outdoor garbage can.
Kate Krebs, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Recycling Coalition, said there is a growing need for such operations in an American society that has greatly increased its awareness of the importance of recycling, but still relies heavily on cheap and disposable goods.
"People today are much more aware that our resources are not infinite, and that recycling is becoming more and more critical as our population grows and those resources become more and more strained," Krebs said, "but we can do a lot more, and we need to do a lot more."
Stoddard said that while it costs the company more than $8 to dismantle a typical computer monitor and sort the different materials it contains, it only charges a $5 recycling fee.
"It's our way of trying to get people involved in recycling," he said.
He said Stone Castle is the only business in Utah that recycles the cathode ray tube glass found in old monitors and TVs.
Without disclosing specific sales figures, Stoddard said Stone Castle's business has doubled in the past 18 months.
Its profit comes from large orders for raw materials from larger companies, both locally and around the world.
"We try to sell on the local market, but we also have buyers worldwide, as far as China and Brazil," he said.
Stone Castle isn't the only business that sees dollar signs where others see junk.
In January, local resident Tori Barrett started an Ogden franchise of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, a company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that picks up unwanted "junk" from local homes and businesses and takes it to places like Stone Castle.
As it has no processing facilities of its own, 1-800-GOT-JUNK pays its bills through pick-up and removal fees, charging customers based on volume.
"We pick up anything people want to get rid of, as long as it's not toxic or hazardous," Barrett said. "We do all the cleanup so people can get their space back."
Barrett's three employees often take items in good, functional shape to local thrift stores or other charitable organizations. Other items are taken to the appropriate disposal or recycling facilities.
While she could not provide growth or revenue figures due to the youth of her franchise, Barrett said the more than 300 company franchises worldwide reached about $120 million in revenue in 2005, well beyond its goal of $100 million.
She said business has been tough so far in Utah, where she said residents have a strong do-it-yourself spirit, "but that's like any service. Everybody's got junk."
Stoddard said that while Utah lags behind many other states in its recycling efforts, "we're trying very hard to step up and do things correctly."
Barrett said her interest in the "turning trash into cash" business stems from a general ignorance among Americans about the impact of their throw-away attitudes.
"In the U.S. we're very removed from our waste stream," she said, "especially in the west, where we are used to having so much open space.
"Well, one day that space will run out, and I would like to get people thinking now about how we will deal with that."
-Article posted in its entirety with written permission by Standard Examiner
Previous page: We Recycle Most Anything!
Next page: Wire & Wires (All types)