Southfield's Ecycle Opportunities recycles old electronics

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - Many people wonder what to do with old and outdated devices, but there is a local eco-friendly option to know about.

"We stack them up in this area and our staff will then sort them out by the different materials such as TVs and computers," said Dan Wolnie, Ecycle Opportunities.

Technology is improving by the day so it is out with the old and in with the new. But what happens to the old?

"You don't need to fill the landfill with precious metals and you don't want that lead that might be in some of these things, into our drinking water," Wolnie said. 

At Ecycle Opportunities they do all the hard work to properly dispose of that. Ecycle workers take the pieces apart.

But unlike recycling a milk carton, some tech devices have private and important information like hard drives. While they want to recycle the metals and chips, it is equally important to make sure it is all properly destroyed.

Ecycle drops the hard drives into a grinder that crushes the device making any family photos or banking data irretrievable. 

The program recently hit a milestone, recycling over one million pounds of electronics. They take old televisions, old computers, printers, DVD printers - really anything.

"Nothing we touch ever goes into a landfill," said Wolnie.

The company also uses any profit made to go toward hiring workers with disabilities. 

Ecycle Opportunities is open to the public for drop off every Tuesday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. They are on Southfield Road near the Home Depot, between 12 and 13 mile roads.