ARI partners with Mexican firm.

American Retroworks Inc. (ARI), based in Middlebury, Vt., has established a partnership with a woman-owned cooperative to create Retroworks de Mexico (RdM) in the Sonora region of northern Mexico. The newly formed operation aims to replicate American Retroworks' U.S. operations to recycle electronic scrap.

The new facility will recycle electronics in a manner similar to the way ARI's Vermont facility does, using repair and salvage value to keep proper environmental management more affordable and to create more jobs, according to the company.

Representatives from RdM trained in Vermont for seven weeks.

"We are proud of the relationships we are building," says Robin Ingenthron, ARI president and a shareholder in RdM. He adds that connections with the local metal smelting industry have resulted in purchase orders to RdM for 20,000 tons of CRT glass, in either separated form for glass-to-glass recycling or as a fluxing agent.

Ingenthron says Retroworks de Mexico may eventually operate as a maquila, demanufacturing electronics from the United States for re-export of separated materials. But the facility is currently concentrating on refurbishment or recycling of computers and televisions from within Mexico.

The idea for the partnership originated with CCLAC of southern Arizona, which holds a share of RdM.

More information is available at www.retroworks.com.