Reaching Out

When you hear the company name “EcoSquid,” it probably doesn’t bring to mind electronics recycling. But that’s something this startup is hoping to change in time. While EcoSquid does not provide electronics recycling services, the company says it can help consumers find the best options for reselling and recycling their unwanted electronic devices through websites such as Gazelle and EcoNew.

EcoSquid began as a research project at the Harvard Business School in late 2009 and was officially launched Aug. 9, 2010, says the company’s CEO Nik Raman. The site allows consumers to enter information about their electronic devices and then polls a number of websites to determine the best options available for reselling or recycling the devices, similar to how Kayak polls travel websites.

“We had about 20,000 visitors to our site in our first month and helped consumers trade in or recycle thousands of products,” Raman says of the company’s launch.

He discusses EcoSquid and his hopes for the future with Recycling Today:

Q: What makes you different from your competitors?
A: We are the only platform that aggregates all of the top options for consumers to trade in or recycle their electronics. We are the only objective source of information to consumers, as we do not provide a back-end program of our own.

Q: What is your business philosophy?
A: We believe that by simplifying the electronic waste market, we can drastically increase the re-use and recycling rates across the country. We believe that great services already exist, but the key is to get consumers to adopt them. EcoSquid helps consumers … by cutting through the clutter.