Port Elizabeth is home to South Africa’s newest and biggest non-ferrous shredder – a mega machine capable of ripping computers and other electronic items into tiny bits and pieces.

The machine, which was imported from Europe, was stationed in Deal Party at the start of this year to deal with the notoriously difficult disposal of disused computers and other electrical junk.

The location was chosen ahead of Cape Town as most of the coastline from the mother city to East London could be serviced from here.

Another machine owned by a rival company in Johannesburg caters for “the top part of the country”, but after 35 years it is outdated. Dreyer Pieterse, director of Non Ferrous Shredders, said the 42-ton, 7,5m tall machine consisted of separating tables with the actual shredder at “the heart of the machine”.

“This machine is built for destroying; absolutely nothing goes to the dumps,” said Pieterse.

“When people bring something to us to recycle, we can actually guarantee total destruction. ”

Gail Vorster, a quality manager at Mecer which was ISO 14001 certified a year ago, said in order to qualify as an ISO 14001 company, Mecer needed to meet certain environmental management standards.

“We needed to look for environmentally responsible ways of getting rid of the so-called e-waste we have generated. Disposing of paper and plastic was okay, but e-waste was a problem.

“The only method of disposing of this waste was to send it to Arlington tip and there’s going to come a point when Arlington can’t cater for everything.”

She said Mecer generated about four tons of waste a year.

The machine is capable of processing up to five tons of waste an hour, and anything from radio speakers to computers is recycled. Anything bigger than the 0,5mX0,5m size that fits through the shredder’s chute can be cut down to size.

The items are sorted a bit before being fed on a conveyor belt through the shredders. Gear boxes are also recyclable, as are personal computers.

The blades that cut up the parts into thousands of tiny pieces weigh in at 27kg each and are replaced every six to eight months at a cost R70 000 for the set of 36.

The machine processes waste from as far as Johannesburg, but Port Elizabeth IT scrap from small businesses so far has amounted to six tons – “six tons that is not lying on a tip”, according to Pieterse.

The plastic bits from the waste are used to make very strong plastic poles, thus saving trees, and the raw metal bits are exported to foundries overseas.

Vorster said they were trying to educate the public about getting rid of e-waste responsibly.

She invited members of the public to drop computers “at the end of their life” in a skip at Mecer’s Newton Park premises so these items could be sent away for shredding.