You have my stuff - now what?

Ok.  So now we can finally start talking about what goes on behind the scenes.  We’ll also touch on the business side of things…politics will come later.

When we first conceptualized the business side of The 4th Bin, we thought it would be pretty simple.  Some stuff we collect will be functional and someone will need or want it.  That fits perfectly into our “reuse” concept (see my previous post).  The other stuff will be scrap and we’ll hand it off to a waste management company for processing and extracting of materials (metals, plastics, etc).  Those extracted materials will be sold to the manufacturers on a secondary market to be used in future parts.  After everyone gets their piece, we will make a few pennies on the dollar.  That’s the simplified version and, as I’m learning, it’s not that simple.

Let me first explain what type of equipment we get.  I’ll put it into buckets to keep things fairly clear and simple.

Bucket 1: Stuff in relatively high demand when sold as used or refurbished.  These items are typically in working condition and require little or no time and money on our end to refurbish.

Bucket 2: Stuff we’re “iffy” about.  Anything that falls into this bucket requires a pretty detailed evaluation.  Time is definitely put in.  And, in some cases, money.  We will plug in machines to test that they work and, in the case of computers, test each individual component (motherboard, processor, RAM, hard drive, etc).  If a component is not working, and we can replace it without taking a financial loss on the overall machine, we will replace it.

Bucket 3: Pure scrap.  This is for the items that do not work or have no demand as used or refurbished.  Typically, it’s broken or really old stuff.

So where can it go once we’ve determined where it falls?

The stuff that has high demand and value (Bucket 1 and the most of the reusable stuff in Bucket 2) will go to our ebay store or will be offered for sale directly to our Facebook fans and Twitter followers.  There is also the possibility of international sales (these are all forms direct sales).  As I like to say, I’m not a computer or parts distributor so I’m not worried about selling things at “market value”.  Considering it’s e-waste, I want to sell it for fair value and make sure that it gets a new home.

Some of the stuff in Bucket 2 can go to a downstream partner who can also sell it either domestically or internationally (indirect sales).

The pure scrap (all of Bucket 3 and some stuff from Bucket 2) will need to be processed for extracting materials.

Wait…did I say “international sales”.  Doesn’t that mean exporting your stuff?  Doesn’t export mean your stuff will wind up in a landfill somewhere in a third world country (or China) and end up polluting the environment - just what you didn’t want to happen?  My answer is yes, it’s export.  No, export does not equal landfill.

The export issue is a tricky one - and a long one.  I’ll dedicate an entire post to the topic of “export” and how keeping e-waste here in the US is not an easy decision.

But now you’re starting to see some of the issues that we face when we determine where your stuff will go - and how it’s not as simple as we thought.  Stay tuned!!

-md