Waterloo e-waste company seeing increased demand for used computers during pandemic

Demand for used computers rising From CTV Kitchener’s Stephanie Villella: A local e-waste company said more people are looking for used computers during the pandemic.

WATERLOO — A Waterloo e-waste company said it's seeing more people coming in for used computers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chris Prosser was shopping at Eco-Tech for 10 computers for his students.

"I work for a not-for-profit school downtown," he explained.

To save money, he's buying them refurbished.

"We try to get affordable software and technology into our hands with the limited resources and funding we have," Prosser said.

David Palacios with Eco-Tech said the company has seen an increased demand for refurbished technology.

"Compared to last year, it's at least 100 per cent," he said.

He attributes the increase to the pandemic.

"With the students or kids not allowed to play at the park or be outside, the parents were like 'OK, let's buy them a laptop' or 'Let's buy them a desktop' to keep them busy or keep them occupied at home," Palacios said.

He also said more people working from home are also buying computers.

"Everybody doesn't know what's going to happen right now, in the future," Palacios said. "Everyone is trying to budget a little bit."

People are also throwing out their old technology.

"I'm home and my wife works at home, so I decided to get down to the basement and see what I had there," custom John Ryan said. "I decided to pack it all up."

Palacios is grateful for the boom in business.

"It's incredible for the times we're passing through right now and for us to be this busy," he said.