Our Process

Receipt of Goods

All Electronic equipment processed at Renewable Recyclers operations are tracked by the Silvanus360 material tracking system. Each component's description and weight is recorded for inventory tracking and warehouse mass balance accountability.

Classification of Goods

The classification of goods into the recycling centre is via two main streams of processing:

• Items suitable for reuse - Electronic equipment / components above a minimum hardware specification (e.g. Pentium 4) and in a working state or easily repaired is refurbished for resale.
• Items suitable for recycling - All items not suitable for reuse are manually disassembled to recover base materials and components for reprocessing.

1. Reuse

All equipment classified for reuse goes through a stringent QA process which includes data devices being sanitized, test and tagging, cleaning, refurbishing and/or minor repairs after which the equipment is sold back to the community, through e-Bay or authorised asset brokers.

Renewable Recyclers are an Authorised Microsoft Registered Refurbisher and as such are bound by the terms and conditions of the program. The program covers the refurbishing and reuse of PCs.

Refurbishing for Reuse

The Microsoft Refurbishing Program specifies the following work that is required to make a used, essentially intact Qualified PCs suitable for a new owner.

At a minimum, the refurbishment processes includes all of the following:

• Cleaning.
• If necessary, repair, replacement, or addition of parts.
• If necessary, upgrades.
  • Upgrades may include the random access memory ("RAM") and/or the hard disk drive ("HDD").
  • A motherboard may be replaced if it is faulty but it must be replaced with a motherboard of the same specification as the original motherboard.
  • Upgrades must not include the central processing unit ("CPU").
• Data Erasure: Clearing of data and software.
  • Hard drives that are reused should be reformatted in accordance with the Guidelines for Media Sanitization published in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-88 or similar standard.
• Equipment electrically tagged and tested.
• Refurbishment work must be done in a professional and workmanlike manner.
• Refurbishment work must comply with all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations.
• Refurbishers also agree to have end-of-life management practices that meet or exceed any guidelines, policies or code of conduct that is published by the government of the country in which they are headquartered.

2. Recycling

To achieve the highest resource recovery rate, items are manually disassembled into base materials and components.

Material/components recovered

• Steel
• Copper
• Aluminium
• Glass
• Plastic
• Central Processing Units (CPU)
• Hard Drives
• Memory Cards
• Sound Cards
• Graphic Cards
• Floppy/CD/DVD Drives
• Modems
• Circuit Boards
• Power Suplies
• CPU Fans
• Motors/Transformers
• Cables
• Adaptors
• Batteries
• Wood

During the disassembly process components are checked if they exceed a minimum functional specification for reuse/resale. All other items are categorised by material and weight in Silvanus360 then sent to downstream recyclers for reprocessing.

Items Weighed for Dispatch

All items that leave the Renewable Recyclers centre are weighed; this ensures that the tracking process continues through to downstream recyclers and/or purchasing customers; and that all material received to the centre is tracked to its final end processes.