ANDREW PORTARE: “If copper’s up one day, we can ship all of our copper extract and capitalize on the market.”

Computers also hold private or secret information. And securing that data is the fastest growing part of PC Recycler's business. Completely removing data from a computer hard drive is not easy. PC Recycler can remove data magnetically or completely destroy and recycle the drives.

Discarding waste in a way that meets government environmental protection rules is also important. Old TVs can contain over a kilogram of lead as well as cadmium -- both highly poisonous.

PC Recycler supports the Basel Action Network, which seeks to limit harmful waste and technology. The company says it does not export electronics to China, India or Africa where environmental rules are weak.

Jeremy Faber says PC Recycler has been in business since two thousand three, expanding from waste management to other, more technical services.

JEREMY FABER: “There really isn’t a lot of industries out there that are like this. There’s either the scrap industry where they’re shredding cars and shredding tires and there’s the refurbished PC market and we’re sort of sit right in between both of those.”

And that’s the VOA Special English Technology Report. Go to voaspecialenglish.com and click on the Classroom to explore our new English teaching activities. I’m Mario Ritter.