To put this in perspective - this was one of the businesses my late father and I were considering circa 2003 in the Caribbean. The risk in this comes from costs of shipping to markets, as well as the costs of starting production. For a long term business, there is a lot of risk.
One company that I know of in Trinidad and Tobago is doing this, at least partially, and I am watching them with interest. They are offering, as an example, to recycle computer monitors for $200 TT (roughly $35 US) - but when you drop off your monitor, you have to pay them. I do not think that this is a viable business model, even with tax breaks for companies, but I will wait and watch. I, for one, do not consider the business one that I would want to get into because the risks are high, the markets distant and the payoff low. In some areas, I don't see it working for smaller businesses. International businesses might have better luck, but at the end of the day if one cannot tap the consumer market the crap ends up in landfills. And that ends up in water tables. And that, of course, will affect the food production and even quality of life of people in a country. So... one size does not fit all. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > hi Kwame > > on the upside, it can be an opportunity for ghana > > a lot of organizations have already written how to recycle pc's and other > ict equipment > > the hardest part is to find buyers for the segregated pc parts > > china and india are prospects with their new appetites for metals > > surplus ict equipment (and other surplus materials) from the developed > countries are really opportunities for developing countries > > in this case for school children > > just the right mindset and procedures need to be implemented > > reduce-reuse-repair-recycle > > regards > > rene > y3k foundation > -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.your2ndplace.com Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/ "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." - Nikola Tesla _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
