A Business Opportunity in Sri Lanka

Actually I’m going to talk about an environmental hazard. A kind of waste which has become a threat to some countries and it will be to Sri Lanka, soon.

If I think back to the days which I first came across equipment called a computer will be the year 1998 or 1999. My father was not the richest in the neighborhood so was very late in going for latest gadgets. Computers were introduced to Sri Lanka way before that.

Today if I get a chance to wonder around my house (which I rarely do) I will not find any trace of that computer but not forget few parts of other computers which my father bought thereafter. Where would I dump them? I sometimes wonder. I could sell the casing to a person who collects metal, but what about the rest of the circuits and other peripherals? IT being in the development stage most of the equipments goes obsolete after some time. Electronic companies have controls in introducing technology to the world. That is how they survive and it is part of their marketing strategy to make some equipment to go obsolete even though there could be some use we could get out of them. Nowadays manufacturers are concerned about the environmental impact of their products as the whole world has identified the importance of been echo friendly.

So the question still remains. Where can I dump my old computer? I could take my old electronics to a recycling center.

Recycling projects in Sri Lanka

http://environmental.scum.org/slwaste/
Solid Waste Management in Sri Lanka: Plastic Recycling

Following are some images depicting some stages of a recycling process. (Images are taken from ritemail.blogspot.com)
“There really has never been a good way to recycle old electronics. They can’t be thrown into the trash, because electronics are built out of all kinds of compounds and heavy metals that seep into the ground and eventually into the ground water. The virtuous among us who bring electronics to recyclers actually aren’t doing any good either, since recyclers often extract the valuable metals – copper wiring, gold from the microchips – and then chuck the rest into the landfill.”

Eric Wolff

I agree with Eric and there should be other means of recycling. Some manufacturers actively participate in the recycling process. For example Dell accepts its old products, recycles and uses them in their manufacturing process. The latest phone from Samsung is made of recycle plastic.

Going back to the leftovers in my place, those parts could be/not in operational condition. Who knows I have no way to check. Even if I can what use can it be to me? So if one can collect all this junk and get some use out of it, it’ll be great. Therefore the ideal process should be like this.

1. You collect thrown away electronics for free
2. Sort (working and not)
3. Get the working parts and assemble new PCs or any other electronic equipment
4. Recycle the not working

Costs

• Collection – You could setup collection centers where people could bring their old electronics
• Sorting
• Assembling with old parts – Will have to hire a technician
• Recycling process

Income

• Sale of assembled computers
• Sale of recycled metals and etc.

I think this is a great business opportunity with the rise of usage of electronic equipments in Sri Lanka.

Imports		2002		2003		2004		2005
Electronic Products		2,788,768		3,580,625		4,285,350		2,397,676

Further reading

Some company’s who recycle

http://www.cinnamonhotels.com/images/Newsroom/B2b_Corpora_e2_PR.pdf
http://www.computerhope.com/disposal.htm
http://www.hm2k.com/posts/how-can-i-recycle-my-computer-hardware
http://findit.uchicago.edu/findit.home/action_briefs&recordID=353&mode=single&nextMode=list&column0=Redirector&sortColumn0=Whatwouldyouliketodo&comparisonType0=is+not+equal+to&value0=true&sortDirection0=Ascending


goodwill e-recycling project with Dell Inc.
http://www.networkforgood.org/OffsiteFrame/?PageID=100227