When it comes to E-waste, the US is caught in a “net-cash-out” loop that is both environmentally and economically devastating.   

• US Consumers import and pay for electronics from overseas.

  • Pulls money out of our economy and funds overseas economies

  • Discourages US job market for locally produced goods

• US Consumers, having bought into the idea of planned obsolescence, discard electronics.

  • Best case scenario: used and broken electronics make it to a recycling center and get broken down within the US in an environmentally responsible manner.

    • “Less than 20 percent of US e-waste is recovered for recycling. Worrying the recycling percentages for PCs (10 percent) and TVs (14 percent) are even lower” (as of a 2008 study)

  • Likely scenario: used and broken electronics make it to a recycling center, are bundled in a shipping container and are sent back overseas.  

    • No resources are recouped

    • Fosters little to no job growth

    • Overseas environmental costs are extremely high due to unregulated environmental protection safeguards.

    • Detriment to environment creates toxic living conditions

    • It costs US economy to send back these resources that have already been paid for on the front end.

  • Worst case scenario: used and broken electronics are improperly dismantled or “mined” for their resources and end up in a landfill.

    • Huge environmental impact locally

    • Very little resource recovery

    • End of life situation for still-usable electronics

• Overseas electronics producers use materials that were sent back from the US to fuel new electronics production.

  • Perpetuating the cycle of a three step “cash-out” scenario for US consumers.

We at Boulder Community Computers are doing our best to raise awareness about this issue and take steps to break this cycle.  We hope that through our example and an effective policy overhaul, the US can take action to shore up this rent in our economy and prevent further global environmental damage.

Our business model focuses on both the US consumer’s electronics purchasing mindset and the post-consumer life-cycle of used electronics.

1. We are focusing on forming relationships that insert Boulder Community Computers as an essential step between the average US consumer’s (both individuals and companies) discarded electronics and recycling centers/landfills.

2. This post consumer E-waste is spared from the conventional and dismal end-of-life situations listed above.  Instead, this equipment is refurbished and resold, thereby extending its life cycle and delaying its delineation as “waste”.

3. Not only does this notion of refurbishing create local jobs, but it creates a cost-effective product alternative to the “new computer” monopoly.

4. We hope that as we expand, our efforts and the quality of our products will lend credence to the used computer market and shift the US’s mindset of “newer and better” to one of “preserving what you have”, especially in this time of national austerity.