Turning Old Phones Into Furniture to Tackle Electronic Waste

The office Ignacio Garcia shares with his colleagues is a showcase for his company’s creations—a plaque, one of the tables, even pots for his plants. The objects in the open-plan room are functionally distinct but share a common origin: the trash.

Garcia’s business recovers the components and raw materials from discarded electronic items for resale. It breaks down the plastic and metal bits it can’t sell, transforming them into new products. The Spanish company is called La Hormiga Verde, or “the green ant,” after Garcia’s antlike penchant for gathering and storing things. “I lost my job in 2018 and had to reinvent myself,” says Garcia, 50, an industrial engineer who spent 15 years in the biomass industry. “Looking at my mobile, I realized it was packed with recyclable materials. I saw a business opportunity.”