Tech Dump, your locally-based electronics recycler, has two good-news items: a new name and a new partnership with Ramsey County that means free electronics recycling for county residents.
Our new name: Repowered
You may have used the services of Tech Dump or Tech Discounts.
But we feel our new name, Repowered, sums up the benefits of our multifaceted environmental, digital equity and social missions.
We are an impact-driven nonprofit that securely collects technology from businesses and individuals for recycling or refurbishing. This keeps e-waste out of landfills, offers affordable tech items to the public and provides jobs and training to our Work Readiness employees, who are overcoming barriers to employment.
Each year, we provide thousands of employment hours, nearly a million dollars in wages and practical experience for adults facing these barriers. Most have experience in the justice system or are in recovery from addiction.
Since we opened our doors in 2011, our team has processed nearly 40 million pounds of e-waste. We adhere to the highest standards of data security while also prioritizing our environmental and social mission. We address several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including poverty, vocational skills, material footprint, sustainable industry, discrimination, urban waste management, hazardous waste and climate change.
Free recycling with Ramsey County
Earlier this year, our company announced an exciting partnership with Ramsey County to offer electronics recycling to all county residents.
Through it, residents pay nothing to drop off televisions, computers and most devices that connect to them, such as VCRs, DVD players, keyboards and printers, for recycling. A list of accepted items can be found on the Ramsey County website. (The free service does not apply to businesses.)
The county is thrilled to offer free electronics recycling for its residents in partnership with Repowered, said Rae Eden Frank, Ramsey County interim environmental health division director.
“This organization has been a critical partner,” she affirmed, “not only for secure electronics recycling but also for providing affordable technology to the community as we so successfully demonstrated with our collaboration on the 2020 TechPaks project.”
Frank continued, “The additional fact that Repowered offers paid employment training for adults re-entering our community after incarceration is so crucial and also adds to our local economy. The partnership with Repowered is an example of the county’s environmental, economic and equity goals in action. This truly is a win for all parties involved.”
We all have a role to play
It’s important for all of us to prioritize extending the lives of all electronics. That might mean buying refurbished from our Repowered retail store, 860 Vandalia St., which is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
It might mean fixing gadgets rather than tossing them, or perhaps clearing out that pile of denial: the various cables and cords you might be saving in a heap. Items you bring to Repowered get back into use, decreasing the need to extract and make new materials.
We all have a role in providing fair chances for people, planet and technology. Thanks for joining us in that work! For more info, visit getrepowered.org.
By Amanda LaGrange for the Park Bugle, October 28, 2022
Amanda LaGrange is the CEO of Repowered. She has testified before the Minnesota Legislature on the right to repair and is a founding member of the national Impact Recyclers Coalition.
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