Many households have a “drawer of shame” — a place where old cell phones and other electronics are stored when they no longer get used. Or maybe there’s an old TV still sitting in the basement. Maria Jensen said even though it’s better than throwing them away, all those old electronics are full of precious metals that people like Jensen are hoping to capture. “There’s metals in our electronics. Really, really valuable, high-demand metals that are in our electronics that can be recycled and reused,” said Jensen, an environmental health and safety coordinator at Repowered.
The Twin Cities-based nonprofit and social enterprise (formerly known as Tech Dump and Tech Discounts) recycles and refurbishes electronics, collecting more than three million pounds of electronics every year. They also provide jobs and training to people who face barriers to employment, including people who have been incarcerated. Repowered’s 91,000-square-foot warehouse in St. Paul is split into sections for collecting, disassembling, sorting, shipping and refurbishing electronics. “You can shred electronics full unit but you’re going to end up with a less pure product,” Jensen explained.
Repowered disassembles electronics in order to recapture as much as possible. For example, circuit boards contain precious metals including gold, silver and palladium. “Before I got this job I had no idea about any type of electronics,” said Willis Richardson, a Repowered employee. “I just used them and threw them away but now… now I know it’s way bigger than that.”