South Dakota recycler receives funding for expansion

The South Dakota Board of Water and Natural Resources plans to provide funds for several recycling and waste management programs in the state. According to KELO-TV, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the state has approved grants to several regional landfills and municipal recycling programs. It also made a loan to help a for-profit business move to a larger site in Sioux Falls.

Secure Enterprise Asset Management Inc. (SEAM Inc.), an electronics recycler based in Sioux Falls, had requested funding to expand its site. The company applied for a loan from the South Dakota Board of Water and Natural Resources in the fall of 2019. SEAM Inc. recycles and refurbishes more than 3 million pounds of business electronics annually, serving clients throughout South Dakota.

The board has agreed to loan about $1.4 million at 2.25 percent interest for 20 years to ESCRAP, a holding company for SEAM Inc., which will pay back the loan. Currently, SEAM Inc. operates out of a 13,500-square-foot facility. The loan will provide funding for SEAM Inc. to move to a facility that is about 60 percent larger than its current site. The new facility is about 1 mile from the current facility. New document destruction equipment also will be added to the facility. 

“We are proud to receive this support from the state Board of Water and Natural Resources and appreciate the recognition of the need in our region for secure and environmentally responsible IT (information technology) recycling and data destruction,” SEAM Inc. told Recycling Today in a statement. “Since beginning operations in our current facility in 2013, we have been able to fill a gap for secure IT recycling and resale services for local businesses in our region. As the only R2 (Responsible Recycling Practices) and e-Stewards-certified facility in the Dakotas, our biggest challenge has been educating organizations on the importance of due diligence and responsible practices when it comes to data destruction and electronics recycling, particularly in heavily regulated industries like health care, financial services and education. 

“Once companies understand the risks, we’ve seen a positive response, and the realization of the need for a certified partner like SEAM, which has led to us outgrowing our current facility. Along with a larger facility footprint, this move will allow us to improve process efficiencies and upgrade our internal IT asset tracking system for complete customer transparency," the company adds. 

According to KELO-TV, other grants also awarded by the board, including a $118,000 grant to Mitchell, South Dakota, to help pay for a compactor that costs $600,126 that will be used at the regional landfill; a $545,000 grant to Mitchell to help pay for new 90-gallon wheeled recycling containers for household-type use, with materials eventually trucked to Millennium Recycling in Sioux Falls; a $148,000 grant to Rapid City, South Dakota, to help pay for $740,000 of improvements at the regional landfill; and a $60,000 grant to Yankton, South Dakota, to help pay for $297,000 of new equipment at the city’s solid-waste transfer station and recycling center.