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Business & Tech

Green Citizen Tries E-Waste Recycling For Profit

Berkeley gets another way to repair or recycle used and broken electronic devices.

When opened its doors a few weeks ago on Earth Day, Berkeley residents got a new place to take their defunct computers, keyboards, monitors, and cell phones. The business has been operating stores on the peninsula for six years and this is their first East Bay location and fourth store. “Our mission is to reduce the environmental impact of computer electronics on the environment,” said James Kao, CEO of Green Citizen, which has stores in San Francisco, Burlingame and Palo Alto.

Kao thinks he can make a for-profit venture out of repairing and recycling electronics and has opened storefronts where customers can walk in off the street. Painted in a bright green, the Berkeley store offers free estimates and technical support for fixing damaged electronics to help extend their lifecycle. Beyond that, the stores accept items for recycling, which is done at facilities in Santa Clara and Fresno, California.

With a degree in math and computer science and an MBA from UCLA, Kao said the idea for Green Citizen came to him as he was watching a Bill Moyers report about electronic waste dumping.

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Electronic waste contains a variety of toxic substances that persist in the environment and can cause health problems, including mercury, lead, cadmium and flame retardant. While estimates vary, Kao and other sources say that about 80 percent of electronic waste generated in the U.S. is shipped overseas, where recycling methods adhere to much lower standards or no standards at all.

Kao said the rapid-fire cycle of product innovation and consumption is partly to blame for the steadily increasing stream of electronic waste. “You’re recycling things because you need to get to a kind of functionality,” Kao said, citing the popular iPhone, which is now in its fourth product release since 2007. “We need to work on designing products for responsible recycling and reclaim,” said Kao.

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California and other states are working to build the cost of recycling into the price of a new appliance. An Advanced Recycling Fee, created by California Senate Bill 20/50, is added to the purchase of all electronics with a monitor over four inches in size. The fee ranges from $6 to $10 depending on the size of the screen, which is measured across the diagonal.

In Berkeley, there are options for giving away a working computer, but if a piece of equipment is broken, the choices for recycling it responsibly are slim. The (ACCRC), a non-profit recycler that also refurbishes electronics, accepts non-functioning computers, televisions and flat panel displays. Both Green Citizen and ACCRC certify that they work only with approved, local recyclers.

Kao doesn’t see himself as competition for ACCRC. “They’ll be a competitor only when dumping ends,” he said.

“We’ve been well received thus far,” said Nafisah Ali, senior center manager for Green Citizen and one of the managers of the Berkeley location. Ali said that since they’ve opened the new location, she’s seen a lot of printers and video equipment come through the store.

Green Citizen employs 23 full-time staff across their four stores and provides internships for students. Ali said she began as an intern in 2005 at the Palo Alto store. “I hadn’t seen anything like it before at that time,” she said.

To mark the opening of the Berkeley store, Green Citizen is offering free electronics recycling through May 31, 2011.

Where to recycle your e-waste in Berkeley:

Green Citizen
1971 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
Phone: 510.981.1900 x104
Toll-Free: 1-877-918-8900 x104
Hours: M-Sat 10am-6pm

ACCRC
620 Page Street
Berkeley, California, 94710
Phone: (510) 528-4052
Email: info@accrc.org
Hours: M-F 9am-5pm,  Sat 10am-5pm, closed for most major holidays.

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