Electronic Recyclers International has teamed up with iFixit to move further into reselling working parts and pieces of devices instead of shredding them.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the partnership will see ERI’s operations across the country set aside large quantities of tested and working parts for iFixit to resell online alongside its traditional offering of tools and free repair manuals.
A pilot project launched earlier this year with iFixit was “massively successful – far exceeding expectations,” John Shegerian, ERI’s CEO, told E-Scrap News.
“Through this pilot program, ERI was able to contribute full sets of replacement parts for nearly 100 different kinds of devices, from tablets to cameras and even smart watches,” Shegerian said.
Those parts, after undergoing testing and a complete data wipe, are now being sold by iFixit through its newly unveiled Parts Store. Details of the financial parameters of the project have not been revealed, but Shegerian noted it’s “designed to benefit both entities while also meeting consumer demand.”
For ERI, which has always made parts harvesting and refurbishment a part of its business, the move is an attempt to “explore new potential growth areas” for the company, Shegerian said.
For iFixit, it will help the company provide consumers with the parts they need to keep their devices working. Kyle Wiens, iFixit’s CEO, explained consumers and communities may have the guides they need to repair their gently used electronics, but not the parts.
“We have repair manuals for a lot of products that we don’t have a parts option for, and when we think of how we can solve that problem, the recycling community immediately comes to mind,” Wiens said. “People really understand how rare and new this is to have these parts available.”
Wiens said the duo will continue to work with ERI’s Fresno, Calif. processing facility before it spreads to sourcing parts from the rest of the company’s operations.
