Engineers Watch as Hard Drives are Shredded!

Members and guests of SME and SWE toured the Windfield Alloy recycling plant in Atkinson, NH on Earth Day (April 22, 2009). Windfield is a zero landfill plant, so everything they receive is recycled completely. Windfield handles it all: ferrous, non-ferrous, precious metal, cardboard, plastic, electronics, overstocks, end of life inventories, and even secure destruction.  The tour group watched as hard drives were pulverized and then separated in ferrous material, plastics, and non-ferrous material. Incoming material to the plant is first separated by type, and then electronics and some items are disassembled into components before being further separated. Materials come in and out of the plant in different forms, everything from gold and silver precious metals to bales of copper, iron, and other materials leaving. Lucky members of the group were even treated to GPS cases or bags of pens that were to be recycled. After the tour, Winfield treated the tour group to dinner at a local restaurant to complete the Earth Day celebration. Pictures are posted here.