You are probably asking yourself, what does mining electronic scrap mean. Simply put it is the recycling of your excess inventories into money by either selling it or processing it.

Lets discuss what kind of materials we're talking about when I say excess inventories. This can be almost any kind of electronic part or piece of equipment that is obsolete or written off your inventory, (Scrapped Out). Anything from integrated circuits, old mainframe computer systems, circuit boards, manufacturing equipment and even furniture can be a way of making your company a few extra dollars. You may have a gold mine right under your nose and not even know it.

Almost any kind of material can be sold or processed either through a broker, who buys and sells, or a refiner, who processes the material for its precious metal value. The employee who coordinates the scrap and excess inventory program for a company is usually in the purchasing department but not always. This job is almost always one of many hats this person is wearing.

The reason you want to spend a little time on this subject is simply this, money. There are other benefits to recycling and reclaiming scrap. You have less land fill problems, not to mention the good neighbor policy. A good reclamation program will more than pay for itself.

The best way to handle your scrap and excess inventories is to know your material, what has value and how it should be handled. Check out what other companies do with their scrap or hire a consultant to help set up a program specific to your company's needs. Remember scrap is like a box full of money, you should not hand it over to someone and say, count this I'll be back later to pick it up.

In every company's reclaim program it will eventually come to a choice, Cash vs. Security. Cash by means of precious metal recovery at a refinery or cash by selling on a secondary market to a broker. When selling on a secondary market you receive a better cash return, but risk some security. Your company must decide whether the risk of scrap material coming back for repair or getting out on the gray market out weighs the money it might receive. Also there is a question of proprietary material that must be destroyed and whether it has been. Some companies choose both cash and security by having some quantity of their scrap destroyed and selling the other to a buyer/broker. Example: The circuit board must be destroyed but some of the chips on the board are O.K. to sell to a buyer at a higher value than scrap.

You and your company must decide what risk you'll take with your company's scrap. Should you sell it outright, refine it and take samples, or make sure it's destroyed and recycled. All of these things must be given consideration when setting up a reclaim and recycling program for your company.

Don't guess.......Know!

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