GreenGo Depot will be closed on Saturday, July 31st and Monday, August 2nd for the long weekend. We will be reopnening on Tuesday August 3rd at 8am.

Enjoy a safe and fun long weekend!

If you haven’t heard of MaSeR (which stood for Material Separation and Recovery) you really missed out on an e-waste phenomenon. They initiated some state of the art technology in the e-waste industry about 6 years ago with hopes of dominating a specific piece of the market. Their goal was to play the niche between the traditional shredding operations and the refiner using a specialized granulation technology out of Germany. This technology would turn the shred into a fine particulate by running it through what is best described as a tool steel lined jet engine. It was then run through a series of gravity separation systems, and finally let out on shaker air separation bed. They would stream the material on the back end of the system visually by adjusting the final in feed shoots, which in the end was the most effective means of sorting the newly created ‘e-sand’. Then finally based on the feedstock and the visual analysis they would inventory, and sell at a loss.  

Before reining any judgment on the team you need to know that MaSeR was also a marketing force to be reckoned with. They employed what I know to be some of the best marketers and networkers in the business, all of which are still active in our industry. For example: within 2 years MaSeR was pulling enough material out of North America to run the beast 24 hours a day; at a devastating deficit mind you.

I am young in this industry but have had the advantage of being brought up on the dark shadowy scrap side of the universe. The scrap taught me one thing: know the value of every single gram (not a drug reference, I swear). MaSeR in short started with an over value, they were paying top dollar for literally everything. At a time when printers and low grade e-waste was being slung as garbage and sneaky shred MaSeR was sitting at $200 – $300 per ton. So yes, credit to the marketing for spreading the word, and no, it wasn’t a good deal. They failed to realize one of the first lessons that scrap had passed on: you make your money on the purchase.

Secondly, they made the next big mistake that several of the main industry players are currently making: They expanded before they debugged. Instead of booting up the process with one minimal full scale line they started up with a full volume machine and all the overhead that is associated. If I may be so bold, expanding all over the continent (and world for some of the big guys) without a machine that turns profit without government subsidy is considered ‘negative trending’ by any financial institution on the planet. In a theoretical environment I’d like anyone in the e-waste who’s actually read this far to pull the government support out of your accounting and stare at your numbers in horror.

The only case that I would agree to exponential expansion is ideal is if you had a dedicated R & D team that had enough capital to expand while capturing market share. If you think that location alone will bring you to ‘that special place’ in the industry, please allow me to throw another situation at you: What if one of you focused internally on creating a process that was truly profitable from the alpha to the omega? A working ‘urban mine’ that pumped out usable commodities? That organization would be the proverbial Henry Ford of our world, and in short order change the face of industry. All the organizations relying on public funds would be swept away within a relatively short amount of time. It’s the age old adage of quantity versus quality, something most North Americans regard about as much as fairy tales.

As with every big shift in industry this same situation has arose, imitation that mimics the dreams of those who are striving for the future. So if I could state anything that sides on my wishes for our industry I would encourage those in power to scale back and perfect their art. Stop relying on spinning boat chains and oversized bladed washing machines with 20 person sorting teams on the back end; this isn’t a solution. Although it is marginally better than nothing, with nothing being 20 people with hammers achieving the exact same level of separation (an Asian ‘Hammer-Mill’ if you will).

MaSeR was not a failure per se, it was another prototype that succumbed to the thinly spread paradigms of our industry. One that I think many could learn from. Next time you see the international competition’s sign up in lights look past the neon and see what they’re actually doing. If shallow ended marketing and no product information is offered you can bet one thing: you’d be surprised by the simplicity of their operations.

It’s time to focus on technique technology, and pay less attention to having ‘the biggest e-waste business on the planet’. Many think that the biggest evolutions in our business are currently happening as the player’s stake their geographical claims and move outwards. I believe that we’ll see another ‘Industrial Revolution’ with our business within the next 10 years that will set the new standard. Is your business ready to face truly profitable competition that doesn’t rely on outside funding?

 <<

Keep your electronic waste, paint and batteries out of the landfill! Bring it to GreenGo Recycling and enter to win a re-furbished computer. Draws will be held monthly! One ballet for every time you drop off electronic waste, paint or batteries.>>