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Stories
Mining precious metals through e-waste recycling
Every day, Americans throw away enough cell phones to cover a football field. That kind of disturbing statistic is what motivates Privahini Bradoo (MBA 2008) to extract precious metals from the 50 million tons of electronics discarded, globally, each year. She saw an opportunity to create a company that provides the technology industry with a safe and sustainable source of metals.
“Being an entrepreneur is not about starting a business; it is about having an attitude that allows you to see opportunities where other people see challenges,” says Bradoo, cofounder and CEO of California-based BlueOak Resources, and 2011 winner of the HBS Alumni New Venture Competition. “Growing up, my mother always told me, ‘For you, nothing is impossible,’ and these words have made every assumption worth challenging.”
Bradoo wants to transform the current e-cycling system, which is both inefficient and hazardous. Discarded electronics are usually shipped to China, Africa, and India, where workers—frequently children with no safety equipment—tear the electronics apart, exposing themselves to lethal doses of toxins. BlueOak is building mini-refineries to safely extract the precious metals that reside in smartphones, laptops, and tablets.
(Published April 2014)
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