Best Buy Research Paper

Working in the electronics retail space for over half a decade, computers can get updated and replaced very quickly. Commonly you can have several new models release shortly after the previous one, which can mind blowing. What happens to those aged computers once their owner deems such equipment obsolete? After doing a great deal of research, it turns out most of those computers make their way into local landfills and that in itself has become a major environmental issue. Below are a few of the harmful consequences that have arisen from the improper disposal of computers and what efforts are being made is to stop it from occurring. Americans own billions of electronic products and it is safe to say that number will continue to rise. Electronics …show more content…
Inc. has stepped up to the plate concerning recycling. Known for being one of the biggest electronics retailers in the US, Best Buy has made a free service available within its store for recycling electronic devices. Best Buy started it’s free recycling program back in 2009 with the hope for the program to be at worst a break-even proposition and at best to be a profit center based on commodity prices (Yoon). Current commodity prices are low, so Best Buy picks up the tab for the recycling of products not just sold by them but from its major competitors such as Walmart and Amazon who score poorly on measures dealing with corporate recycling (Yoon). Best Buy’s efforts for a clean and sustainable earth should be applauded. Not only have they made it convenient, it is nice to see a company take a stance to better our environment at a cost to their bottom line. Providing this public service free also makes the public more likely to do the right thing as it costs them nothing to do so (Yoon). In addition, from a business standpoint, the program benefits Best Buy as not only does it provide good PR but it also brings customers into their store who otherwise would not have walked in creating possible sales, impulse buys, and face to face rapport building conversations (Yoon). Even though the program is expensive, I still feel this is smart business as the cost of the program can be viewed as a price paid for advertising that targets a certain …show more content…
When I first read that, I found that to be an overwhelming fact that I still cannot fathom. As stated before, the main goal of this research paper was to convey the negative effects of e-waste and what progress is being made. From government, schools, to even a major corporation, change has started and its progress should continue. The keys to achieving this will be awareness and educating the public in the coming future to make sure we as a society are safe from the dangers caused from unrecycled