Tech trash recycled

Obsolete computer and electronic products like floppy disks, videotapes and cellphones often put users in a quandary. They'd love to get the outdated materials out of their offices and homes but are worried that private information could be compromised.

Most cities, including Seattle, don't accept these materials for recycling either, as they could contain heavy metals.

What's an environmentally conscious, identity-theft-concerned citizen to do? GreenDisk President and CEO David Beschen hopes they'll call or log on to his electronics-recycling company.

For the past 14 years, the Issaquah company has worked with corporate clients, such as Microsoft and Boeing. In addition to bulk pickups, GreenDisk also left smaller boxes for employees to drop off old computer accessories.

The boxes were so popular that in 2004, GreenDisk began selling them (dimensions are approximately 1 foot by 1 foot by 3 feet high).

Consumers can purchase these "Technotrash" cans for $29.99, which covers postage, processing and a report certifying that the information has been fully destroyed.

Each box can hold up to 70 pounds, and will be picked up by the U.S. Postal Service. GreenDisk uses a network of nonprofit organizations around the country to process the material, which is sorted, shredded, baled and sent to recycling companies that turn the materials into other products.

For example, the plastic from compact disks is melted down and made into auto parts and appliances, Beschen said.

Many of the nonprofit organizations employ developmentally disabled or older workers.

Don Lafferty, the director of community living at Alternative Community Training in Columbia, Mo., said the GreenDisk contract provides 25 to 30 jobs for developmentally disabled individuals.

"Just creating one job for a person with a disability, you've done a lot," Lafferty said. "GreenDisk has been instrumental in creating lots of jobs for adults with disabilities in mid-Missouri."

In Washington state, GreenDisk's products are brought to the Northwest Center in Seattle, under the business name American Data Guard. GreenDisk is one of more than 350 companies the center works with, said business manager Kara Hughes-Rudoff.

At the Northwest Center, five workers have one supervisor who helps them plan their tasks. The ultimate goal is to train them for jobs in the community.

Debbie Thompson, 48, sorts items at the center four days a week. The job makes her feel good and she's made a lot of friends in the four years she's worked there, she said.

"I like looking at the pictures," she added, referring to the videotape boxes she was sorting.

Whenever possible, GreenDisk will reuse the materials it receives.

Information on diskettes can be securely erased so the disks can be reused, as can CD jewel cases, which GreenDisk sells with its own line of rewritable CDs.

Before opening GreenDisk, Beschen worked for advertising agencies, the Federal Reserve Bank, Texas Instruments and Microsoft — where he was in corporate communications and heard his share of stories about how companies got rid of sensitive materials.

"They did all kinds of things to get rid of it, even running it through a branch chipper," said Beschen, 58.

He was shocked to read a study 15 years ago that said some 80 percent of all unsold software materials in the United States was not recycled.

According to a report last year from the Environmental Protection Agency, about 2 million tons of used electronics are discarded each year.

Beschen's company originally focused on recycling floppy disks from companies such as IBM, Microsoft and Disney.

Employment peaked in 1998 at 200 people, but a decline in the use of floppies forced Beschen to cut down the work force.

GreenDisk now has eight employees. Beschen would not disclose its revenues.

While GreenDisk still has corporate clients, the company is working to establish a strong individual-consumer base with its "Technotrash" cans.

"There is no category — cellphones, inkjet cartridges, computers — that currently enjoys more than a 10 percent recycle rate. That means at least 90 to 98 percent is not being recycled," Beschen said.

"There is a huge untapped market."

Lisa Chiu: (206) 464-3347 or lchiu@seattletimes.com