Altruist, rebel, capitalist, ex-heroin junkie, and computer nerd: James Burgett is changing the world one old motherboard at a time. Tonight on "Tech Live," see how this open-source advocate is building a clustered supercomputer out of junked computers.

"I dispose of more computing power on a daily basis than was used by the entire planet when we put a man on the moon," he said.

Burgett's Alameda County Computer Recycling Center (ACCRC) processes 200 tons of computer equipment a month, recycling or reusing every scrap.

"The only trash that goes to the landfill is our bio-waste, the leftover fries, and hamburger wrappers from the staff," he said.

A small paid staff and a legion of volunteers "chip and pick," separating the parts of old boxes. All sorts of electronic gear, computers, and monitors trickle and sometimes pour through the front door of Burgett's East Oakland, California, warehouse.

Nonprofit makes profit

The ACCRC is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, but the business is turning a profit.

"When California mandated a fee for every computer or monitor thrown away, I started making money, both from those tossing the computers and from those buying some of the parts," he said.

The 38,000 square feet facility is brimming with dumpsters and bins full of scrap metal and plastic cases, each destined for a different recycler.

How he started

Burgett and his staff rebuild as many computers as they can. In 1994, Burgett says he was a dumpster-diver hooked on heroin. He pulled a slew of computers out of the trash, rebuilt them, and donated them to a local school. His work was written up in the local paper and the donations started rolling in.

Now he's a source of computers for almost anyone who asks. "Schools, nonprofits, disabled individuals, underprivileged children, developing nations. I have computers on every continent including Antarctica," he said.

Sharing the wealth

Burgett has placed computers in the Russian space program. He said he even tried to send the Russians a mainframe computer thrown away by San Francisco State University. The Russians wanted it, but the US State Department and the cost of transporting the behemoth got in the way. Burgett's placements are all over the map. He even outfitted the Latvian Public Defender's office with computers.

But Burgett does have one rule when it comes to who gets his computers: "The only groups I turn down are religious groups who want the computers to help spread the word of God, because I don't know which God they're trying to spread and I don't want to choose."

Burgett puts SuSE Linux on all the PCs he gives away. He doesn't mince words about Windows.

No fan of Microsoft

"Microsoft blows," he said. "I couldn't legally do what I'm doing if I tried to use a Windows OS."

He underscores the fact, pointing to his networked supercomputer cluster. "I'd pay hundreds per node to install Microsoft products on the cluster," he said.

The cluster is part utility, part geek hobby, and part neighborhood project. "It would make a superlative digital animation studio, and there are a lot of people here whose talents will never be expressed except maybe through a can of spray paint unless we come up with something like this."

The cluster is in a separate room of Burgett's warehouse. The scene is an IT manager's worst nightmare. There are racks upon racks of different computers spewing Cat 5 cables like snakes out of Medusa's head, but one gets the feeling that it's all very orderly to Burgett.

Good deeds rewarded

"The idea of having one of the world's most powerful supercomputing arrays in a junkyard full of ex-convicts and high school dropouts in East Oakland strikes me as really quite amusing," he said.

Burgett started out to do good and he's ended up doing well. "We aren't receiving a dime in federal funding or grants. The organization pays for itself."

More importantly, Burgett is master of the chaos at his eclectic recycling center. "We're doing this because it's a cause, not because it's a job," he said. "Quite frankly we can find better jobs."