Free Geek founder tackles corporate e-waste

Oso Martin, founder of Free Geek, a Portland-based consumer e-waste recycling program, launched Bear eCycling in April 2007 to provide e-waste recycling services on a corporate scale. Free Geek will remain in business to serve noncommercial customers.

“At the commercial scale, the operations become much larger and complex,” Martin says. “Bear eCycling uses the techniques learned at Free Geek and applies them in a way to maximize product throughput,” he says.

Bear also designs corporate recycling programs, trains staff and tests products for companies interested in purchasing energy-efficient, low-waste computer and electronic equipment. The company also provides technical analysis for the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool program [see “U.S. Green Electronics Council debuts,” SI, February 2006].

Bear customers are charged per pallet, with additional fees for monitors or other potentially hazardous materials, as well as for extra levels of data security such as individual hard drive tracking and data destruction.