Greencitizen

Specialties

GreenCitizen is the only electronics recycling company working to develop a network of recycling centers to bring convenient and responsible electronics recycling to consumers and businesses. We only work with E-​Steward or R2 certified partners that ensure no items ever go to the landfill or get shipped abroad. Our unwavering commitment to the environment has earned us the distinction of being the first recognized For-​Benefit Company (B-​Corporation) in the electronics recycling industry.

We are the only electronics reycling company that has drop-​off locations in prime retail locations to make it convenient for you to recycle your electronics. Unlike random drop-​off events in your local school parking lot, we are open and ready to receive your obsolete electronics 6 days-​a-​week in multiple locations around the San Francisco Bay Area. We can accept just about anything that runs on electricity absolutely and ensure all items are reused or recycled in the most environmentally responsible way.

We also have a business pick-​up service where we will come directly to your office, pick up your items, ensure all data is handled securely and all items are recycled responsibly. To qualify for a free pick-​up your business needs to recycle a combination of just 10 qualifying items which are laptops, desktops, TVs, monitors, servers or smartphones/​tablets. Additionally if you or your business has any working electronics that are later models, we can offer you a quote to buy back your items

History

Established in 2005.

James Kao discovered the global dumping crisis in 2002 after watching a 60 minutes exposé about the world’s biggest e-​waste dump in Guiyu, China. The program moved him to such an extent that he spent the following two years travelling the world researching the global dumping of e-​waste. He founded GreenCitizen on Earth Day, 2005 with the aim to bring local, accountable and responsible electronics reuse and recycling to all the cities of the world, beginning with the San Francisco Bay Area.

Meet the Business Owner

James K.

Business Owner

James W. Kao is an experienced CEO with a successful track record of delivering results in startup and Fortune 500 environments. Over the course of his career, Mr. Kao has raised over $ 24 million of funding to support several start-​up companies. In 2000, he co-​founded Managize, a supply chain management company later sold to Escalate, Inc. Prior to Managize, Mr. Kao founded and led eALITY, a business process enterprise software firm. He served as CEO of The Right Sizing Group, a data warehouse consultancy, whose clients included Wells Fargo Bank, Charles Schwab, Intuit, Mervyn’s and TransAmerica Corp.

Mr. Kao also played a key marketing role in significantly driving Oracle sales for the HP product business, and also held management positions with HP and IBM. Mr. Kao holds a BS in math/​computer science from UCLA and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.