There’s a reason we take the time to dismantle large machines and equipment before sending them off to the smelter. Sure, it would be a lot quicker and easier to toss these old CNC machines onto our flatbed trucks and cart them off for shredding. But that’s not how it’s done here at Research Alloys!
We’ll be spending the next three days dismantling 20 massive CNC machines. This entails unloading each piece with a crane (they each weigh over 20,000 lbs.) and staging them in the designated area of our Big Blue Building. Next, our crew will examine the exterior of each unit, removing wires and motors that are easily accessible before the real fun begins. Inside, each machine also houses copper transformers, capacitors, power supplies, additional motors, dozens of pounds of insulated copper wires, as well as circuit boards and electronic components. Our technicians will remove all of the parts from each machine and group them by category. And then once the steel chassis are finally empty, they can be cut into manageably sized pieces and finally sent off for recycling.
There are several reasons for such a laborious, hands-on process. Obviously there’s financial incentive for the company, as we are able to sell most of the internal components for a higher price per pound than the steel itself. But perhaps more importantly, there’s the environmental aspect: part of the difficulty of recycling certain items (like a massive CNC machine) is that they are made up of so many different types of components, and different components have different recycling processes and different end users. Simply sending the steel off would be quick and easy for us, but it really passes the onus of responsible recycling off to the next processor.
By taking the time to dismantle and process our materials– be they computers, forklifts, or CNC machines– we’re not only able to reap the financial benefits of higher-per-pound pricing at the time of sale, but we’re able to consistently provide high quality, well-sorted scrap to our buyers. At Research Alloys, we believe in taking the time to do it right!
As an added bonus, Research Alloys actually went to the client site to collect all of these machines and provide transportation back to our facility. If your business has big, outdated equipment in need of recycling, look no further for your solution. Call us today to set up a free consultation.