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Selwyn Times: June 02, 2021

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<strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Wednesday <strong>June</strong> 2 2<strong>02</strong>1<br />

14<br />

NEWS<br />

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />

Using science and recycling as a way<br />

• By Bea Gooding<br />

RUDY KRAMERS considers<br />

himself a bit of a mad scientist.<br />

“I love blowing things up. I<br />

used to spend a lot of time at<br />

my kids’ school doing science<br />

demonstrations – the bigger the<br />

bang, the more excited they got.”<br />

For as long as he can remember,<br />

science and technology have<br />

run through his veins. And while<br />

most people shied away from live<br />

electricity, Kramers gravitated<br />

towards it.<br />

It is what made the Rolleston<br />

resident the perfect fit to join the<br />

team at Molten Media Trust, a<br />

charity that promotes the ethical<br />

recycling of electronics by<br />

refurbishing devices destined for<br />

landfill.<br />

Said Kramers: “I love the idea<br />

of electrons running through<br />

a wire, you can’t see it, but you<br />

know it’s there. And if there’s<br />

enough of it, you can feel it, even<br />

if it means getting an electric<br />

shock.”<br />

Molten Media stopped 30<br />

tonnes of electronic waste from<br />

going to landfill last year.<br />

Eighty to 90 per cent of<br />

dismantled component parts<br />

are also diverted away from the<br />

dump.<br />

People and businesses donate<br />

unwanted TVs, computers,<br />

phones, printers and other<br />

ZERO WASTE: Rudy Kramers is the perfect fit as trustee of Molten Media because science<br />

and technology run through his veins.<br />

PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN<br />

devices for the trust to repair or<br />

refurbish.<br />

They are often stripped for<br />

parts that are either sold through<br />

the trust’s online store or put<br />

towards building something new<br />

to donate to community groups<br />

who cannot afford brand new<br />

devices, like computers.<br />

A software developer by<br />

trade, Kramers’ arrival as a<br />

trustee last year came at a time<br />

when the charity was entering<br />

“dangerous territory” as a result<br />

of Covid-19.<br />

It was on the brink of closure<br />

after operating for more than<br />

two decades. Income dropped<br />

to “almost nothing” during the<br />

lockdown as donations stopped<br />

flowing in.<br />

Excluding the trustees, there<br />

were only two staff on hand to<br />

process a massive backlog of<br />

electronics needing to be taken<br />

apart.<br />

Tasks like separating plastic<br />

away from steel were timeconsuming<br />

enough as it is.<br />

“Covid was the final nail in the<br />

coffin. Having the money to pay<br />

rent each month was the crux of<br />

whether the place was viable or<br />

not,” Kramers said.<br />

“Trying to sell stuff is getting<br />

harder because companies like<br />

PB Tech and Noel Leeming are<br />

selling stuff so much cheaper<br />

than they ever have.<br />

“We’d be lucky to get $50 for a<br />

second-hand TV.”<br />

Selling parts and refurbished<br />

devices to help cover funding<br />

shortfalls got more challenging<br />

because people were willing to<br />

pay less.<br />

“Metal prices are trending<br />

downwards,” said Kramers.<br />

“Countries like China who are<br />

big buyers of steel and scrap were<br />

paying less for it, so the amount<br />

of money we were getting from<br />

metal recyclers has [also] gone<br />

down.<br />

But following personal cash<br />

injections from the pockets of<br />

trustees, Kramers felt confident<br />

the trust can be self-sufficient<br />

again without relying on grants,<br />

which were hard to come by.<br />

His confidence derives from<br />

a place of wanting to see the<br />

charity succeed and a passion for<br />

sustainability, even if it did come<br />

with its frustrations.<br />

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