Apr 21, 2011
Written by Julie Brown
End products from the recycling process at GEEP include copper.
Separated computer parts are stored at Global Electric Electronic Processing in Redford. For a fee, the firm welcomes residents to drop off electronics 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. There's a list on the website of what's accepted.
“People are starting to become aware and educated about the importance of recycling,” said Verkeyn, Business Development executive for the new location at 12237 Beech Daly (next to the post office) in Redford.
GEEP, headquartered in Barrie, Ontario, provides electronic waste recycling. The Michigan facility had been in Warren the past several years, but the move was made to Redford to accommodate business customers in an area ranging from Taylor to Ann Arbor.
“We just moved here about two weeks ago,” Ferndale resident Verkeyn said. “We needed a larger location.”
The Redford site, north of Plymouth Road, has some 50,000 square feet. E-waste services are much in need with technology advancing, Verkeyn said: “We’re very happy to be here. A couple of local people stopped by to welcome us.”
Of interest to local people, you can drop off old electronics beginning this week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. There’s a list of accepted items on the website www.geepmichigan.com. For more, call (877) GEEP-4-YU (433-7498). A fee is charged.
Douglas Verkeyn, Business Development executive, is glad to be located in Redford, next to the post office. Global Electric Electronic Processing is based in Barrie, Ontario, and just moved its Michigan facility from Warren to Redford.
Examples of e-waste include desktop computers, laptops, monitors, printers, keyboards, mice, phones, VDRs, PDAs and televisions.
GEEP also has operations in Canada in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver. In the U.S., it’s currently in Texas and North Carolina in addition to Michigan, although Verkeyn noted company plans to expand in the U.S., beginning with California. GEEP began with just a few employees in Barrie in 1984.
GEEP also has a partnership with Fortech in Costa Rica and operates in southern Germany as well.
“We currently have 12 (Redford employees) and we’re hoping to grow,” Verkeyn said. The privately held company will need varied skills, including information technology.
Mike Kay is general manager for the Redford site, which serves the Midwest, including such states as Kentucky and Tennessee as well as closer.
“We’re excited,” Verkeyn said. “We’re happy to be here. Hopefully with people dropping off their mail at the post office, they can also drop off their e-waste.”
GEEP has proprietary software, EBAN, used to sanitize hard drives for business customers. Being delivered to Redford is a roughly 6-foot by 10-foot shredder for hard drives.
For business customers, the data wiping is done to Department of Defense standards, Verkeyn said. Shredding is also effective and a bit less expensive.
“It gives customers an option,” he said.
In the Redford conference room, there are small jars of circuit board pieces, copper, aluminum and mixed plastic. GEEP breaks down materials into those at Barrie and North Carolina facilities and sells them for reuse.
“It makes it easy when you have a passion for recycling,” said Verkeyn, dad to two daughters ages 8 and 5 and a recycler at home. “We want a cleaner, safer environment for the future generations.”
E-waste is a source of environmental toxins, with an average of six to eight pounds of lead in a CRT monitor. Exposure can cause brain damage, blood disorders and kidney damage, so GEEP officials are careful about environmental standards and disposal.
Verkeyn earned a bachelor’s degree with a finance major from Wayne State University and has been with GEEP about five years. “Just with technology, e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in our nation,” he said.
The Redford site has five bays for trucks to deliver e-waste, a scale for weighing and an area for sorting and demanufacturing. Ink and toner cartridges are removed and recycled.
“We try to sort everything by like equipment.” Verkeyn said of the EBAN technology which can process up to 200 machines at a time.
“Security is of the utmost importance to us and our customers,” he said of the fenced-in work area and numerous cameras.
Verkeyn describes the “closed loop” recycling. “We don’t outsource. We do it ourselves. Everything’s being done responsibly. That’s very important to us.”
Article Link: http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011104210629
April 21st, 2011 | 
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