Five Questions With: Brent Mancuso

Brent Mancuso, president of Office Recycling Solutions in East Greenwich, talks about how his business got started, and how it has become one of the largest electronic waste (e-waste) recyclers in New England. The company also is the official e-waste collector for 24 municipalities in R.I.

PBN:How did you get the idea for your business and how many people do you employ?

MANCUSO: Before the formation of Office Recycling Solutions, my father and I brought the Cartridge World concept to Rhode Island in 2005, which involves recycling and reusing all type of inks, laser and toner cartridges at a discount over the brand-name products. I worked for the company as an intern while attending URI. While I was delivering product to our accounts, I started noticing that many of these businesses had obsolete electronics laying around, and no one knew what to do with them. They were aware that they couldn’t throw them in the regular trash, but didn’t have any local options for recycling. We started taking their electronic waste (“e-waste”) as a value-added service. Not long after the word got out, I started receiving phone calls from businesses all over Rhode Island asking if we could properly dispose of their old electronics for them. At this point, we knew we were onto something. We created Office Recycling Solutions in early 2006 and have been recycling for residents, schools, non-profits and businesses ever since. We currently have 10 employees at our facility. We employ clients from several great local agencies, including The Cove and Groden Centers (adults with developmental disabilities) and Open Doors (ex-offenders). We’ve also been at the forefront in the state on training and fundraising. We have raised over $250,000 for area nonprofits and collected more than 750 tons of e-waste at these fundraising events alone.

PBN: Why is it important to recycle e-waste, and do you have any idea how much e-waste is generated annually by Rhode Islanders? What is the most common item recycled now?

- Advertisement -

MANCUSO: E-waste makes up a waste stream that is growing incredibly fast in the U.S. A large portion of this stream contains several toxic substances, including mercury, lead and cadmium. These pose a threat if not disposed of properly, hence why we see landfill bans across the country. This is also why it is important for residents and businesses to look for “R2” certified recyclers. The Responsible Recycling Practices Standard certification, which is recognized by the EPA, is a set of voluntary principles and guidelines designed to promote and assess responsible practices for eWaste recyclers. R2 is all about data security, end-of-life management and everything in between. We realized how important this is, so we attained our R2 certification last year. We just currently went through our annual upgrade, along with the “RIOS” (Recycling Industry Operating Standard) certification. Right here in R.I., we saw residents recycle somewhere between 5 to 7 million pounds of e-waste last year. We can attribute this to Rhode Island’s foresight when passing a manufacturer take-back law about six years ago that has greatly benefited the residents. The most common of the items currently being recycled are televisions. Due to their heaviness and large size, people are grateful to get rid of them.

PBN:Are people generally aware that they can recycle their eWaste?

MANCUSO: People are becoming more aware of the options they have to recycle their e-waste. Since each town has free and convenient drop-off, most residents find out that way. [Office Recycling Solutions] recycles all electronic items, including televisions, monitors, flat screens, window unit air conditioners, microwaves, dehumidifiers, CPU’s/computers, servers, keyboards, spare computer parts, laptops, network equipment, mice, laser printers, routers, UPS batteries, radios, scanners, fax machines, cables, wires, cell phones and much more. We have several means of collection for our vast customer base. We also do community collection events around the state on the weekends, where people can get rid of their old electronics while donating to a non-profit, church, school or any other group that we’re fundraising for. These events have proven to be very beneficial, and we’re always trying to raise awareness of this great service!

PBN:How did you get involved with municipal e-waste and how many communities are you working with?

MANCUSO: We were able to start working with municipalities as the “Independent Manufacturers Program” right around the time when the manufacturer take-back law was signed in 2008. We did this simply by visiting each DPW and offering our service, making sure to let them know that we’re the local company, employing all local people! We pioneered a collection method, which the state actually modeled after us, consisting of portable storage units (most know the containers as PODS). These are beneficial for numerous reasons, and differed greatly from the old collection methods. As of today, we are the largest municipal e-waste recycler in Rhode Island We are the official collector for 24 municipalities here in the state. They range from the larger cities, including Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket and East Providence, to many of the smaller towns.

PBN:Where does the e-waste go after you collect it?

MANCUSO:All of our e-waste goes only to R2-preferred downstream. We mechanically break down computers and similar equipment onsite, and sell the parts as commodities. Other items, such as TVs and monitors, are sent as whole units to be processed in an environmentally safe manner. We ship only to companies in the United States, most of which are actually right here in the northeast. We also partner closely with a local reuse company who can identify certain working items and sell them as such. We encourage companies to reach out and inquire about our asset management services, data destruction procedures, item downstream and many of the other great services that we offer!

No posts to display