San Ramon Business Turns Trash into Treasure

During the economic heyday of a few years ago, Joe Nelson's conscience got the better of him.

So the 34-year-old San Ramon resident quit what he saw as a crooked real estate business before the bubble burst and forced so many out of a job anyway. Nelson, who got his first taste of entrepreneurship at the age of 10, when he caught and sold bait to fishers at along the Delta in Martinez, quickly changed course.

Instead of lending in a market fraught with cheats, the entrepreneur found a way to make a buck while helping the environment. On Earth Day in 2008, with his wife Angie Nelson, he founded an electronics recycling company called eWaste Direct.

"People don't realize that most of the solid waste in this country is electronic," he said from one of his e-waste drop-off zones, Safe Keep Storage in San Ramon. "And most of it is recyclable."

In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. families will discard 30 to 40 million personal computers every year for the next few years. And 1 billion cell phones will get tossed in the next year or so, according to the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery.

"That's a lot of reusable waste," Nelson points out.

And that's where he steps in. Nelson will pick up anyone's used electronics to take to a recycler. And he'll do it for free.

"We get reimbursed by the state," he explained. "That's the profit piece of this."
So the more electronic junk he collects – computers, cell phones, electric razors, DVD players – the more money he makes.

"It's a volume-based business," Nelson said. "So we try to partner with other groups to bring in as many recyclables as possible."

To the groups that help him up the volume, he gives a cut of the profit. Organizations like the Soroptimists International and the Rotary pay him $100 bucks to organize e-waste recycling events, he said, and then they split the earnings with his company, 50-50.

Because of its effectiveness as a fundraiser, Nelson said he'd like to work with local schools and other nonprofit organizations close to home. He's set his sights on securing contracts with cities and school districts, which would bring in a steady income for his burgeoning company.

"Joe and his wife, they're very aggressive about his," said Jim Erickson, who owns a San Ramon-based computer repair company that partners with Nelson in recycling electronics. "The green field is literally a very broad expanse, and sometimes it's about reuse, not just melting something down."

It's also about keeping things local. Because there's no use trying to recycle to save the environment if the parts are dismantled and melted far away, Erickson said.

"We break apart as much of this as we can ourselves," Nelson said, gesturing toward a bin of electronics dropped off at Safe Keep Storage off of San Ramon Valley Boulevard. "And then we hand it over to the state."

From there, it's mined for its precious metals – gold, platinum – plastics and other components and reintegrated into newer technologies. If there's something reusable, Nelson's wife of two years sells it on eBay through her business, called Angie's Greengo Surplus.

"In every aspect of this business, we're trying to be environmentally conscious," said Nelson. "It feels much better to make money by actually doing something good for the community."

At a glance
Nelson collects used electronics at drop-off bins in San Ramon, Redwood City, Fremont and Sausolito. To find the exact addresses, or for more information about eWaste Direct, including how to book a fundraiser, visit the company website at www.ewastesolutions.org.