After two decades in the software business with companies such as Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), James Kao grew disillusioned by the waste created when people ditched the latest technology dreamed up by his industry.
Angered that old computers, televisions and other gadgets from U.S. consumers were ending up in landfills in China, Africa and other parts of the world, Kao decided to do something. He started Green Citizen, a company that collects and disposes old electronics in the San Francisco Bay area, tracking everything to ensure the gadgets are recycled back into raw material, or refurbished and resold.
The holiday gift-giving season will bring a fresh crop of electronic waste to Green Citizen, part of the 2.4 million tons tossed out each year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As consumers buy new gadgets from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) and trash their old wares, Kao, Green Citizen’s chief executive officer, expects his company to see a 30 percent rise in waste from November to February.
“The holiday period is the biggest buying time for most consumer electronics and it absolutely results in more e- waste,” said Barbara Kyle, national coordinator of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, an electronics-recycling advocacy group. “Our ferocious appetite for the newest gadget is absolutely contributing to increased amounts of e-waste and holiday buying is a huge driver.”
Click here to read the story.
