SAN FRANCISCO — After two decades in the software business with companies such as Oracle and Hewlett-Packard, 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 founded Green Citizen, a company that collects and disposes of old electronics in the San Francisco Bay Area, tracking everything to ensure that the gadgets are recycled back into raw material, or refurbished and resold.
The Christmas season means Green Citizen will see a fresh crop of electronic waste, part of the 2.4 million tons each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As consumers buy new gadgets and trash their old ones, Kao 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.”
Green Citizen’s end-toend approach is unique, Kyle said. As not only the collector but also the monitor, the company ensures that waste doesn’t end up in dumpsites. Kao partners only with certified recycling companies that can prove that material isn’t shipped overseas or put in landfills.
Kao and his team expect to collect about 700,000 pounds this holiday season. Waste Management, the biggest U.S. trash hauler, also said it expects a rise in electronic waste.
“When it comes to recycling, it’s an afterthought,” said Kao, 55, who has also founded two software companies. “All the energy is going to how do we get the next revenue, from the new best gadget, and there is never a thought in to how to get it back.”
Green Citizen is profitable, Kao said, without disclosing the company’s earnings.
It expects about $2.5 million in revenue this year and double the next. He wants to expand to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
The inspiration to start Green Citizen arose in 2000 while Kao was taking time off after selling Managize, a supply-chain management software company.
Up late one night watching television, he saw a documentary that showed dumpsites in China, Africa and the Philippines overflowing with old computers, televisions and other electronics from the United States and Europe.
Components containing toxic elements such as lead and mercury were cast into rivers and landfills.
“It was contaminating whole villages,” Kao said.
He spent two years educating himself, traveling to meet with companies and government officials.
Limited awareness and lack of convenience keep the general public from doing more, Kao said, while poor accountability and oversight make it difficult to ensure that enterprises do their part.
Green Citizen hauls disposed-of devices to a large warehouse in Burlingame, Calif., a few miles south of San Francisco’s airport.
Technicians determine whether a gadget can be fixed and resold. Repaired devices are put up for sale on Internet marketplace eBay. Kao said about 21 percent of electronics that Green Citizen handles can be refurbished, generating about half its revenue.
While Green Citizen is trying to offset gadget waste, Kao said, that still isn’t a match for a consumer culture that encourages people to seek the latest and greatest technology.
About 80 percent of U.S. electronic waste ends up on container ships and is then ditched in developing countries, where companies hire workers to extract the core minerals without any environmental or worker-safety oversight, he said.
“It’s going to get worse and worse,” Kao said. “Initially, I tried to fight it, but you can’t.”
Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/30/2012