ZERO PC

“ZERO PC” is a project led by people port Inc. in Kohoku ward. People port takes used laptops and upcycles them to brand new computers. Since 2017 when the project began, they have collected used computers from over 300 companies and resold 1200 upcycled computers up until September 2020.

The “ZERO” concept includes two types of zero. One is to try to make the environmental impact zero. People port uses 100% regenerative energy at their office and reduce waste as much as possible by recycling every part of computers while it is upcycled. The other ZERO is to try to make domestic refugees* zero. People port hires refugees in Japan and support them by teaching computer upcycling skills so that they would be able to make their living outside Japan as an upcycling expert.

*in this article, refugees refers to the people who are applying for refugee status.

1. The environmental impact Zero

People port attempts to make the environmental impact zero by upcycling and recycling everything. They do not waste anything that comes out while upcycling and recycles them. They do not use any plastic for their packing materials and replace them with cardboard. Moreover, the electricity at their office is 100% regenerative.

2. Working with refugees

It is very hard to get admitted as a refugee in Japan. In 2019, the acceptance rate was only 0.42%, though there were 10,375 applications. It is the fact that there are so many socially vulnerable people who are waiting for acceptance by Japan. People port hires those people and supports their life in Japan by teaching Japanese and computer upcycling skills. The skill is useful even after the refugees go back to their countries.

3. The more computers are upcycled, the more children are saved.

It is said that there are about a hundred thousand children who are too poor to go to school in Japan. People port attempts to donate a hundred million yen to those children. They donate part of their proceeds depending on the number of used computers they took.