Schupan expands e-scrap business

Schupan & Sons Inc., a Kalamazoo, Michigan-based recycling company, has relocated part of its e-scrap business to a newly acquired building in Kalamazoo.

The new building measures 28,000 square feet and sits on 26 acres across the street from Schupan’s flagship location.

The company also has acquired a 10,000-square-foot building, which it plans to use for operations yet to be announced.

Kendra Townsend, a spokeswoman for Schupan & Sons, says the company decided to purchase the additional space in light of the growth of its electronics recycling business. While relocating its electronics processing operations to the new site, the company has kept its refurbishing business at its original location.

“The demand for our services has been steady and growing,” Townsend says.

Cory Pyscher, general manager of Schupan Electronics Recycling, the division of Schupan & Sons that runs the e-scrap business, says the move to the new, larger location tracks with the sector’s growth. He says that over the past year the company has seen a tenfold increase in its e-scrap business.

A key feature of the new building is the high ceilings, which will allow the company to install more equipment for processing. The new facility will accept electronics that contain a circuit board.

The new plant, as well as its refurbishing business, are R2 (Responsible Recycling) and RIOS (Recycling Industry Operating Standard) certified. In addition to giving the company more space for processing, Psycher says the company also has increased its capacity for disassembly.

Psycher says the new facility allows the company to ship the processed metals recovered from e-scrap directly to smelters and other end consumers. Shupan & Sons says it has a strong relationship with the cable industry, which will help the company continue to grow its e-scrap business in the area. The company also has seen more material coming from other dealers in the area.

With the purchase of the building, the company has added five more employees and says it expects to hire an additional 15 employees to handle the uptick in business. Along with new employees, Schupan has purchased more equipment to ramp up its processing capabilities.