We are an e-waste collector, we have to pay to recycle most electronics we receive, and the only reason we still exist as a business is because we do the environmentally friendly thing of ensuring as many devices as possible is refurbished and resold.

> recycle them for parts

"Recycling" does not inherently imply "for parts".

> recycle them for parts

Consumer electronics are not generally recycled for parts at an industrial scale in the US. (maybe not anywhere?)

Most parts in devices you have are not serious candidates for part wise recycling: The cost to remove the part (much less test it) is greater than the cost to buy a new one... and it's often difficult to figure out what a part actually is.

About the only common part-reusable thing I encounter is 18650 cells from 'dead' laptop batteries. I have a whole drawer of them, scavenged from our old thinkpad batteries. Usually there is only one or two bad ones in the pack. All my flashlights are 18650 powered for this reason.

Screwing over companies that screw over the environment is morally sound.

How is it screwing over Sonos? The credit can only be spent on new Sonos equipment. Or are you talking about the OP's company, who is cashing on people's desire to recycle?

"double dip"; your words, not mine.

The owner did try to recycle them for parts, by giving them to the recycling centre.

There is a difference between reuse and recycle. A recycling centre won't generally reuse parts of a products it's just separated and new raw material is created from it if possible.

I now see what's going on...the OP claims to be running an e-recycling center but actually takes "donations" and sells them for a profit instead.

My understanding has always been that e-recycling centers have to pay to responsibly dispose of the junk they collect / are given, and they fund this by sorting through it for any equipment that can be refurbished or cannibalised and sold for re-use. There's nothing nefarious about this.

Me too. I’m dropping stuff off at a recycling centre because I have no use for it anymore. If they can find a use for it, that makes me happy. It’s the same reason I’d rather donate stuff to charity or drop it off at a thrift store for them to sell than throw it in the trash.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this (in fact quite a bit is right with it) as long as they have ensured that any of the original owner's data has been wiped. Re-using is far more environmentally friendly than recycling since rather than a fraction, 100% of the device is effectively being recycled.

Recycling centers aren't nonprofits. The only way recycling can work in our economy is if the recycling party can sell the output of their work for more than they spend on that work.

> Recycling centers aren't nonprofits.

Many of them are.

https://www.electronicrecyclingassociation.ca/about-us/