Amanda Buros (00:00)

Hi and welcome back to The Vertical Advantage, our podcast series from Dynamic, where we break down what really happens with your old tech and what this means for you.

I’m your host, Amanda Tischer Buros, VP of OEM Solutions. At Dynamic, we help businesses recover value from their equipment, keep data secure, and give electronics their next best life. If you’re tired of juggling this and managing IT assets, handling compliance, or running a data center, this is for you. Today, we’re talking about recycling that does more, protecting brands, recovering valuable materials, and proving real impact. I’m joined by Hailey Stauffacher, our Outbound Sales Executive, to take you behind the scenes of how Dynamics in-house process works, from secure destruction to advanced recovery, and why owning every step of that process makes all of the difference.

Let’s get started.

Amanda Buros (00:51)

Haley, when most people think about recycling, they picture shredding and disposal. But at Dynamic, recycling really works a lot harder. We’re protecting brands, recovering value, and driving real sustainability impact. Why is recycling such a critical piece of the vertical integration story?

Haley Stauffacher (01:05)

Thanks, Amanda. By having a partner with such a strong vertical integration, your value is able to be maximized. Having one partner that can provide reuse value back on whole units and components, combined with adding value back on the commodity level, means your partner can evaluate the supply chain from a high level to create the optimal solutions for many material types.

Amanda Buros (01:24)

Excellent. Can you give listeners a high level picture of what responsible recycling means in practice at Dynamic.

Haley Stauffacher (01:31)

Absolutely. Responsible recycling and practice here at Dynamics has to do with the way we manage all of our processes. We provide proper environmental solutions, offer secure chains of custody, have proper handling of hazardous materials, all while simultaneously maximizing value back to the customer.

Amanda Buros (01:46)

Thank you. And to help us further set the stage what does a typical day in our recycling operation look like? How do all the moving parts, including inbound, processing, and recovery, truly come together?

Haley Stauffacher (01:58)

Once material arrives at our facility, our expert receiving team grades and triages all material brought into the warehouse. They’re identifying what’s being received and determining the next step in the processing. Just a couple of examples of processes we have here at Dynamic are the pre-shred sort, our manual dismantling team, CRT processing, data destruction, our ITAD division, which evaluates material for resale, and so on and so forth. Most importantly, all under one roof. Once material is processed, we group material to maximize value and ship to our certified network of downstream processors.

Amanda Buros (02:31)

Thanks, Hailey. So how does Dynamic ensure the end-of-life electronics are securely destroyed, protecting sensitive data and our customer brands?

Haley Stauffacher (02:38)

Very good question. First and foremost, we have physical methods to destroy electronics. Our large shredder is optimized for whole units and then we also have a secondary smaller shredder, ideal for small materials, such as hard drives. Additionally, we’ve got our manual dispensing teams for material that aren’t candidates for shred feed. We also are able to handle specialized requests, and a recent example of how we accommodated a special destruction was a large OEM customer of ours asked that we shred their hard drives using a special screen size. And for peace of mind for the customer, this was a no brainer for us. Aside from the physical aspects of destruction, we also do data wiping, working with some of the largest companies in the world to provide these solutions. Both these methods of data destruction happen in-house and performed in controlled environments with strict security protocols. Dynamic is also NADE certified and carries the highest level of cybersecurity and liability insurance to protect our customers.

Amanda Buros (03:25)

Excellent. So you started to touch on this and you’ve talked a little bit about our equipment and some of our different processes, but what technologies or processes really set Dynamic apart from the standard recycler?

Haley Stauffacher (03:37)

Well, we are a few companies that have a full scale recycling and ITAD capabilities all under the same roof. Not only are we full scale, but have some of the most advanced technologies in both areas of the business. My personal favorite process is our shredder. We have a series of mechanical sortation equipment such as magnets, eddy currents, optical systems, and more to create some of cleanest shred outputs in the industry. The separation allows us to provide the most value back to our customer.

Additionally, we have our own Dynamic Logistics Company. That means we can bring our own truck and our own drivers to your facility, pick up your material, bring it back to our facility, and process without zero handoffs to anyone else. Our Logistics Division is also for hire, meaning we can optimize logistics costs ensuring we aren’t running empty miles.

Amanda Buros (04:19)

Yeah, great. Thank you for that.

As we both know, electronics contain valuable commodities, from copper to aluminum to various precious metals. So how does Dynamic maximize recovery while still ensuring responsible downstream management?

Haley Stauffacher (04:33)

Yeah, it really touched on some of our shredder separation processes. By getting such clean outputs, we were able to go down the supply chain, ensuring those streams are going in the hands of people that are actually creating raw materials to put in new products. Another example in practice is our CRT line. CRTs have hazardous materials. Dynamic takes the material, processes to stringent requirements, and uses some of those positive value commodities, such as circuit boards or wire, to offset the cost of managing lead responsibly, giving customers the best rates possible, all while maintaining the highest compliance standards.

Additionally, our compliance audits all of our downstream, ensuring that when there are regulatory changes, we are continuing to meet and move material compliantly. Our certifying bodies, R2 and E stewards, set the minimum to ensure compliance, and Dynamic goes above and beyond to ensure compliance and that the path of our material moves how we expect. Another example of this is our tracking system. Dynamic is one of the pioneers in the industry, creating our own GPS tracking program for material that allows us to have much more insights to the movement of our own materials.

Amanda Buros (05:31)

Yeah, excellent. That’s some really great insight. Because Dynamic does own our entire recycling process, we’re able to avoid some risky handoffs. How does that improve chain of custody management and how does that compare to if a customer had to work with multiple vendors?

Haley Stauffacher (05:46)

We are able to manage a large spectrum of devices and components. You won’t see a lot of other vendors that are able to manage such a variety of material and we make it simple. Additionally, our compliance team is here to do the hard work for you. We’ve held our downstreams to the highest standards and can provide those details to you. We pride ourselves in visibility and transparency we provide to customers. Not only does our team do the heavy lifting, but are also the experts in compliance and all materials across every area of the business, from recycling to ITAD commodities.

Amanda Buros (06:12)

Yeah, digging a little bit deeper into some things that customers really care about. What does this mean for verifiable reporting? Not just assurances, but truly some transparency to where their materials are ending up.

Haley Stauffacher (06:24)

Our process is to provide complete traceability. We can look at when and where customer’s material came in, trace it through our operational processes, outbounding, as well as a downstream flow through end of life. Our system tracks material by type, customer, load, so on and so forth. This is a validation that can be provided from a compliance standpoint. Additionally, we also offer ESG reporting as well as a verified carbon inset credit so that the customer can feel confident that their material is being handled responsibly.

Amanda Buros (06:51)

That’s excellent. At the end of the day, we know customers truly want that peace of mind. So how does Dynamic’s Integrated Recycling Model protect those brands and continue to reduce compliance risk?

Haley Stauffacher (07:02)

Ultimately, peace of mind comes from control and trust. Dynamic’s model allows the control to be put in the hands of the customer and that trust is going to come from our verified downstream partners and complete documentation in all areas of compliance. By having one partner, you’re removing a lot of the gray areas where risk can hide and know that your brand is protected every step of the way.

Amanda Buros (07:20)

That’s great. Let’s put ourselves kind of in the shoes of a sustainability or IT leader that could be listening today. How does responsible recycling strengthen their ESG story and help with their stakeholder confidence?

Haley Stauffacher (07:32)

There are so many risks businesses face today from data to brand to product management and not one business’ story is the same. Having a partner that can provide a personalized decommissioning plan to make you feel comfortable is important. Here at Dynamic, we want to give you that confidence, whether that be with our system that wipes data and performs forensic risk analysis and audits of every drive, to physically destroying material before it ever leaves our facility. Our compliance and outbound team manages our supply chain every step of the way to ensure we’re meeting all regulatory and certification requirements.

When choosing Dynamic, your material won’t be going to a landfill or a developing nation, it gets processed here. And finally, I do want to call out that we also have some of the highest levels of insurance offered to ensure that our customers have that extra level of security to feel supported.

Amanda Buros (08:12)

Thank you, Haley. You’ve provided some really great insight for us today on how Dynamic really differentiates through our vertical integration on both maximizing value as well as reducing risk to our customer. What’s the one takeaway you want listeners to remember about why Dynamic works harder than the industry norm?

Haley Stauffacher (08:30)

First and foremost, we do the right thing. By doing the right thing, we offer the highest quality and value to our customers, ensuring your materials are being managed correctly, and providing customers with the highest returns.

Our people also set us apart. Our dedicated customer experience team is world class, going above and beyond and provide our customers with the best experience. They’re responsive and integrated in every step of the process, door to door to ensure a smooth process. Finally, we also excel in customizing solutions. If you’ve got a tough material special request, give us a call. Our in-house capabilities allow us to handle nearly everything thrown our way.

Amanda Buros (09:03)

That wraps up this episode of the Vertical Advantage. Thank you, Haley, for giving us an inside look at how Dynamic’s recycling process works harder, delivering stronger protection, higher recovery, and measurable results. Join us next time as we keep exploring the power of integration and how it helps our partners work smarter and more sustainably. Thanks for listening, and we look forward to seeing you next time.