A Los Angeles-based processor that hires formerly incarcerated people grabs attention, and Samsung explains what exactly caused its flagship mobile device to overheat.
Dual defects: An internal investigation by Samsung has revealed two causes of the high-profile overheating problems that plagued the company’s Galaxy Note 7. CNET reports that the first battery had too small of a casing, causing the mobile devices to overheat, while the batteries included in replacement units were built too hastily and included a manufacturing flaw that led to the same problem.
Trump scraps TPP: President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, The New York Times reported. The agreement aimed to bring the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries together in a pact that would lower tariffs and create a free-trade zone for about 40 percent of the world’s economy, according to the Times. Some industry experts saw the TPP as beneficial for the recycling world, in part because it would reduce barriers to moving material to Asia.
Second chances: A California e-scrap recycling company was recently written up in Mashable for its work employing people who have recently emerged from the criminal justice system. Isidore Electronics Recycling is part of the LA Cleantech Incubator, which aims to help clean technology startups get off the ground, and the company describes its mission as giving second chances to both people and electronics.
Cutting off collection: Citing increased costs and lower returns, a North Carolina county will no longer accept local municipalities’ e-scrap for recycling. The Star News reports that Brunswick County made the decision due to higher costs to send leaded glass downstream.
