Recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment into single-stream secondary raw materials – from collection to raw material production.
ELECTROCYCLING GmbH
Goslar (Harlingerode)New on Amplifa
About Electrocycling
ELECTROCYCLING GmbH operates a certified recycling facility for waste electrical and electronic equipment in Goslar (Harlingerode) with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes per year. The company collects old devices nationwide through its own logistics and truck fleet, sorts them and removes hazardous components, dismantles them manually, and feeds them into mechanical processing with coarse shredding, sensor-based sorting and eddy current separation. Up to 35 recyclable material fractions are produced, including copper, iron, aluminium, steel scrap, plastics, glass, circuit boards and precious metals such as gold, silver and palladium, which are returned to the economic cycle as secondary raw materials. Functional devices and components are tested, cleaned and marketed as spare parts. In addition, Electrocycling offers manufacturers and distributors ElektroG and Battery Act compliance services, nationwide dismantling of obsolete plants, and certified data carrier destruction to DIN 66399, also mobile on the customer's premises. Founded in 1994, the company employs around 190 staff and, as an affiliated company, belongs to the Günter Papenburg AG Group; through its subsidiary EARN Elektroaltgeräte Service GmbH in Vienna it is connected to a Europe-wide recycling network.
- Site
- Goslar
- Processes
- Collection, pickup and logistics of waste electrical and electronic equipment (nationwide, own, Sorting and hazardous component removal of waste electrical equipment, Mechanical processing and shredding (shredders and mills) for secondary raw material production, Sensor-based sorting (automated detection by colour and metal) and eddy current separation,, Dismantling / removal of obsolete and technical plants, nationwide, with own assembly teams, Data carrier destruction to DIN 66399 (ISO/IEC 21964), also mobile on-site with shredder, Reuse: testing, cleaning and packaging of functional devices and spare parts, Consulting and compliance services: ElektroG registration, authorised representative, guarantee
- Materials
- Copper, Iron, Aluminium, Plastics (ABS, mixed plastic, light fraction), Glass, Precious metals (gold, silver, palladium), Circuit boards, Non-ferrous granulate (non-ferrous metal)
- Certificates
- Specialist waste management company (Efb) under §56 KrWG, Pretreatment facility (EBA SW) under §21 ElektroG, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 50001:2018, DIN EN 50625ff (CENELEC), DIN 66399 (ISO/IEC 21964) data carrier destruction, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, Specialist waste management company (§ 56 KrWG), Pretreatment facility EBA SW (§ 21 ElektroG), DIN EN 50625 (CENELEC), DIN 66399 data carrier destruction
- Founded
- 1994
- Employees
- around 190
- Industries
- Electrical and electronics industry (manufacturers/distributors), Retail (including online retail), Municipalities/districts, Waste management companies, Commercial and industrial enterprises, Private customers
- 01
Consulting and compliance services (ElektroG/BattG)
- 02
Collection and logistics (own fleet, container provision)
- 03
Reception/sorting
- 04
Hazardous component removal and manual dismantling
- 05
Reuse (testing, cleaning, packaging)
- 06
Mechanical processing (coarse shredding, sensor-based sorting,
- 07
Secondary raw material distribution
- 08
Return into the raw material cycle
Materials and Processes
Copper
Recovered from waste electrical equipment and marketed to industry as a copper fraction.
Iron/steel scrap
Steel fraction from mechanical processing, single-stream for the steel recycling cycle.
Aluminium
Aluminium fractions are separated from old devices and marketed as secondary raw material.
Precious metals (gold, silver, palladium)
Contained in the copper and circuit board fractions; recovered via downstream processors.
Circuit boards
Separate recyclable material fraction with high metal content for precious metal recycling.
Plastics (ABS, mixed plastic, light fraction)
Plastic fractions after shredding and sensor-based sorting, returned to plastics processing.
Glass
Glass components from screens and other devices are recovered as a fraction.
Batteries and accumulators
Device, industrial and vehicle batteries are accepted and properly disposed of.
Locations
Goslar (Harlingerode)
DERecycling plant, administration, drop-off point for private and commercial deliveries
- Lot size
- Individual devices up to bulk goods/containers; approx. 5,000 t/month
- Materials
- Waste electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, metals, plastics, glass
- Recycling plant for waste electrical equipment (since 1995, expanded in 2010 to 80,000 t/year)
- Coarse shredding plant (2010, expanded 2014)
- Sensor-based sorting system (2014)
- Eddy current separator (2014)
- Shredders and mills for data carrier destruction to DIN 66399
- Mobile shredder for on-site data carrier destruction
- Filters of mechanical processing with frequency converter and demand-based control (upgrade 2023)
- Truck fleet and container service
- Fire protection early warning system (since 2021)
Components and Services
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collection, pickup and logistics of waste electrical and electronic equipment (nationwide, ownAssembly | – | – | – | 80,000 t/year (plant capacity) | Waste electrical equipment, Waste electronic equipment, Batteries, Accumulators |
| Sorting and hazardous component removal of waste electrical equipmentTesting | – | – | – | – | Waste electrical equipment, Hazardous and interfering substances |
| Mechanical processing and shredding (shredders and mills) for secondary raw material productionMachining | – | – | – | 80,000 t/year | Copper, Iron, Aluminium, Plastics, Glass, Precious metals |
| Sensor-based sorting (automated detection by colour and metal) and eddy current separation,Testing | – | – | – | – | Steel scrap, Aluminium, Glass, Plastics, Copper, Precious metals (gold, silver, palladium) |
| Dismantling / removal of obsolete and technical plants, nationwide, with own assembly teamsAssembly | – | – | – | – | Metals, Plastics, Special waste |
| Data carrier destruction to DIN 66399 (ISO/IEC 21964), also mobile on-site with shredderSurface | – | – | – | – | Hard disks, Memory cards, Flash memory, Mobile phones, Magnetic tapes, Floppy disks, PCs, Tablets |
| Reuse: testing, cleaning and packaging of functional devices and spare partsTesting | – | – | – | – | Waste electrical equipment, Components |
| Consulting and compliance services: ElektroG registration, authorised representative, guaranteeEngineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Warehouse clearances, recovery of returns/overproduction, counterfeit destructionAssembly | – | – | – | – | Electrical and electronic equipment |
| Take-back and disposal of industrial and vehicle batteriesAssembly | – | – | – | – | Industrial batteries, Vehicle batteries, Device batteries |
9 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recycling plant / mechanical processing and separation systems for waste electrical equipment | – | 1 | – | 1995 (Inbe | Goslar |
| Coarse shredding plant | – | 1 | – | 2010, tech | Goslar |
| Sensor-based sorting system | – | – | – | 2014 | Goslar |
| Eddy current separator | – | – | – | 2014 | Goslar |
| Shredders and mills for data carrier destruction (DIN 66399) | – | – | – | – | Goslar |
| Mobile shredder for on-site data carrier destruction | – | – | – | – | mobile at customer's premises |
| Filters of mechanical processing with fans, frequency converter and demand-based control | – | 1 | – | Upgrade | Goslar |
| Truck fleet and container service | – | – | nationwide, also cross-border road freight transport | – | Goslar |
| Sorting lines (plastics, air classifiers, sensor-based) in new production hall | – | – | – | – | Goslar (expansion area) |
Additional services
Quality and Certificates
Electrocycling is a certified specialist waste management company under § 56 KrWG and a certified pretreatment facility under § 21 ElektroG (EBA SW); its quality, environmental and energy management are certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001. Data carrier destruction is carried out to DIN 66399 (ISO/IEC 21964), treatment of waste electrical equipment to DIN EN 50625 (CENELEC), with proof of hazardous component removal and recycling rates through mass balance accounting and test batch processing.
| Evidence | Goslar (Harlingerode) |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001 | |
| ISO 14001 | |
| ISO 50001 | |
| Specialist waste management company (§ 56 KrWG) | |
| Pretreatment facility EBA SW (§ 21 ElektroG) | |
| DIN EN 50625 (CENELEC) | |
| DIN 66399 data carrier destruction |
History
- Anfang der
Launch of an internal R&D project for electronic scrap processing by Preussag AG Metall
- 1994
Founded by Deutsche Bundespost Telekom, Siemens AG, Alcatel SEL AG and Noell GmbH
- 1995
Commissioning of the recycling plant in Goslar on 9 August
- 1996
Establishment of own dismantling teams for on-site removal of waste electrical equipment at customers
- 1997
Certification as a specialist waste management company and quality management to DIN EN ISO 9001
- 2001
Environmental management certified to DIN EN ISO 14001
- 2005
Certification as a pretreatment facility under § 21 ElektroG; founding of EARN Elektroaltgeräte Service GmbH in Vienna
- 2010
Purchase of 4 hectares of the former zinc smelter site; construction of a coarse shredding plant; capacity expansion from 30,000 to 80,000 t/year
- 2014
Technical expansion of the coarse shredding plant with sensor-based sorting and eddy current separator
- 2015
Certifications to DIN EN ISO 50001 and DIN 66399; member of the Günter Papenburg AG Group
- 2017
Certification to DIN EN 50625 (CENELEC)
- 2020
Purchase of a further 2 hectares; completion of partial remediation of the former Harlingerode zinc smelter (EU/EFRE project); new production and maintenance hall
- 2021
Commissioning of a fire protection early warning system; one million tonnes of waste electrical equipment recycled