Echo Works processes discarded electronic devices Parts 1 & 2

Echo Works is a Black Hills-based electronics recycling company which aims to sustainably process discarded electronic devices.

Randy Sheppard, supervisor of Echo Works, explained the process of sustainably and securely recycling electronics.

“The desktop computers, the laptops, any of those type of items—when you bring it in, we break those computers down to the shell,” said Sheppard. “The desktop computers, we take out the hard drives. We take those hard drives, I document the serial numbers, the weight on it, and we shred those hard drives.”

By shredding the computers’ hard drives, Echo Works ensures no personal information will be compromised when the device is discarded.

Desktop and laptop computers, although perhaps the most common, are not the only devices Echo Works receives.

“We take a lot of electronics,” said Sheppard. “We have the old monitors, the CRT, the tube types. We take TVs, flat screens, cell phones, printers, stereos, receivers, speakers. We take almost any of the electronic material like that.”

Once the devices are processed and shredded at Echo Works, the company sends the remaining materials to a certified recycler.

“We have a recycler—a certified recycler— that we ship this to in Wisconsin. So, when I say certified, this material isn’t going into any landfill anywhere in this country, it is going to be broken down even more, melted down or shredded to an even finer point,” said Sheppard.

Since Echo Works was founded, the company has recycled almost 300,000 pounds of materials, preventing those materials from ending up in a landfill in South Dakota. Of those 300,000 pounds, around 3,000 were just hard drives which have since been shredded and recycled.

For more information, visit Echo Works’ website here.