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Surplus Property Program

July 2009
Everyone knows what to do with paper, aluminum, plastic, and glass, but what if you have something that doesn’t fit into one of those categories? It’s trash right? Not if you have furniture or electronics. For nearly a decade Les Pfluke, working for Medical Center Facilities photo of surplus chairs, tables and desksOperations, has run the Electronics Recycling Program, along with the Surplus Property Program.

“The idea is that we reuse these items as best we can” says Pfluke and he’s made a decent show of it. When the call comes in to the Customer Service Center (273-4567) someone from Pfluke’s team of 17 is scheduled to pick up the item, usual in 1-2 weeks. From there, Pfluke’s team is able to ensure compliance with the destruction of all information stored on hard drives, cellphones, and other data storage media devices. Any items that are inoperative items are sent to SunnKing, the University’s contracted electronics recycler. In a typical month, 13-14 pallets of electronics are recycled in this way!  To give an idea of the value of the service Pfluke provides, consider that a single CRT monitor has about a pound and a half of lead.  That’s material that would have sat in a landfill for centuries.

photo of file cabinets and desksBut the story doesn’t end there. If working electronics come down the pipeline, the data is cleared and it joins the Surplus Property on its way out to Rochester Tech Park. Here items await repurposing. They have good company, too. It’s hard to express the magnitude of the storage space. The accompanying pictures may help you get an idea, but for best results, the Surplus Program is open to faculty, staff, and the public at large Tuesdays from 10 AM to 2 PM.  

A special event is planned on July 22nd and 23rd, 2009 and departments are invited to come out to Rochester Tech Park to buy lightly used furniture at garage sale prices. Then, on July 24th and 25th, the sale will be open to the RochesterTech Parkpublic. For this event, hours have been extended from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. A shuttle will run on the 22nd only, from Whipple Circle, (Medical Center entrance by bank) to Rochester Tech Park. Don’t miss this opportunity!

The Rochester Tech Park is located at 332-360 Initiative Way Building 5.