Project

Salvage

The Salvage Table is a reuse system that educates participants about electronic items left for recycling. The Salvage Table breaks down complex circuitry into core, reusable pieces and provides information on how to reuse them. While the table is a main feature of the current trial implementation, a core component is crowd-sourcing. Users can visit salvage.media.mit.edu, browse through the items that have been left at the Salvage Table, and add missing meta-information (e.g., components on the boards, ways to use the chips or components). A long-term goal is to influence company policy for manufacturing parts so that modularization and reuse are prioritized. Eventually, companies may even re-harvest parts from older models for use in other products or in research labs. Produce less, salvage more.