In the News

Goodwill Industries of Central Texas and Goodwill Industries of San Antonio are opening a brand new Computer Works store on Friday, June 3 at 10 a.m.

Goodwill Industries of Central Texas and Goodwill Industries of San Antonio are opening a brand new Computer Works store on Friday, June 3 at 10 a.m. The store is located at 4914 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78229 (in the Northwest Shopping Center near the intersection of Summit Parkway). Modeled after a successful Computer Works store in Austin, the 5,000 sq. ft. San Antonio operation will take donated computers and parts and decide whether they can be recycled or resold. The store will employ 14 people and will sell refurbished Macintosh and PC computer systems and recycled computer parts and peripherals. What cannot be refurbished or resold will be recycled to eliminate any e-waste being sent to landfills. E-waste is described as electronic equipment at the end of its useful life. Electronics, including computers, are considered at the end of their life when they are inoperable or when the system is considered to be outdated or obsolete. In addition to refurbishing systems to be sold, computers can be disassembled for valuable parts or recycled. In one computer for example, there are four main hazardous materials - lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium. In addition, the picture tubes in computer monitors contain 2-5 pounds of lead and other hazardous materials. Because computers contain some hazardous chemicals, Christine Banks, Director of Environmental Business Services at Goodwill Industries of Central Texas in Austin, said that the need for Computer Works is evident. “As computers pass through our donation stream, we want to make sure we’re responsibly recycling them,” she said. San Antonio residents can still donate to any of the 27 Goodwill donation stations, but the Computer Works store centralizes the computer recycling process. “It takes a certain amount of expertise to refurbish computers and we want to make sure that we’re making the most of our donations and properly recycling what can’t be sold,” said Banks. San Antonio Goodwill President and CEO, Bob Dugas, said the new store is an important step in the right direction. "Goodwill has been a recycler for 60 years. With this store, we hope to broaden our impact on the San Antonio community, while providing job opportunities for people with disabilities,” he said.