Computer reconditioning centre: combining resource recovery, skills training, and digital inclusion in Belo Horizonte

The city government of Belo Horizonte, Brazil’s third largest city, faced many challenges regarding growing electronic waste production, but also youth unemployment, digital exclusion, and disadvantaged low-income communities. 

In response to these challenges, the city government established an electronics remanufacturing facility, the Computer Reconditioning Centre (CRC), where citizens from low-income communities receive extensive training to restore donated post-use IT equipment into full working condition. The refurbished equipment goes on to support over 300 ‘digital inclusion sites’, where locals have free access to computers and the internet, as well as varied training opportunities in basic digital literacy. The computer remanufacturing training programme is mainly directed at young (16-24 years old) Belo Horizonte locals from low-income communities who are looking to gain new skills.

The CRC is run by Prodabel, the city’s information and technology provider, as part of the ‘Computadores para Inclusão’ (Computers for Inclusion) Federal Government initiative.

The Belo Horizonte CRC continues to be the backbone of Belo Horizonte’s skills development, waste diversion, and digital inclusion efforts, having earned Belo Horizonte the title of Brazil’s most digitally advanced city in 2011. By restoring post-use electronics, the city has restored at least 7,000 used IT products and diverted 15,000 kg annually from landfill since the CRC launch in 2008. More than 10,000 citizens have been trained in basic technological skills, environmental education, and computer remanufacturing. The initiative has been replicated at similar centres around Brazil through local partnerships.