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CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS - July 2002

Nothing is Wasted

At INTERCON SOLUTIONS Inc., a recycler on Chicago's Southwest Side, some 40 employees "de-manufacture" every electronics piece that comes through the door, and the firm takes in 500,000 pounds every week. Plastic housing, leaded glass and printed-circuit boards are all broken down, separated and sent to smelters or refineries.

"It can take one of our employees between 30 seconds and five minutes to break down a computer processor," says INTERCON CEO Brian Brundage. "But the labor and the shipping all add up. We pay most of our employees between $12 and $15 per hour."

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