Universal Recycling Technologies has launched a circular materials platform meant to return plastics recovered from end-of-life devices back into electronics manufacturing in North America. The company says the effort is designed to reduce risk for manufacturers while improving the ability to use recycled plastics in new products.
The platform, known as NEXLOOP, is built around what URT describes as a practical supply-chain approach rather than a single recycling process. It is paired with the NEXLOOP Polymers Alliance, a group of companies spanning plastics separation, compounding support and injection molding that aims to produce OEM-grade post-consumer recycled resins derived from electronics.
Ken Thomas, president of URT, said the initiative grew out of years of conversations that repeatedly led his team further down the manufacturing chain.
“So what NEXLOOP represents is that URT has driven that complete chain going from end of life right back into the manufacturing process,” Thomas told E-Scrap News.
Thomas described a familiar hierarchy of priorities for electronics at end of life, starting with refurbishment and reuse. When that is not feasible, he said, companies may harvest usable parts, then recycle what remains. Plastics, he added, have been among the hardest materials to reintegrate into manufacturing because electronics plastic streams can be mixed and because manufacturers and compounders require consistent specifications.
URT said it invested in sink-float technology in 2020 to separate e-waste plastics for reuse, but Thomas said the company found that providing material was not enough if downstream partners could not use it. Compounders required plastics separated to specific polymer streams, such as ABS and PS, rather than mixed material, he said.
Under the NEXLOOP model, URT handles the end-of-life processing and preparation of plastics feedstock. That material is then sent to Hanil Eco Solutions, which in the alliance is positioned as the core polymers partner responsible for producing high-purity recycled resins engineered for electronics applications. Shinil provides compounding and formulation support, while BH Tech provides injection molding and electronics component manufacturing.
Thomas said the companies’ technical teams have been working together for more than a year to align processes, including adjustments aimed at meeting material specifications required further downstream.
“It’s not new technology,” Thomas said. “It’s bringing together the different parts of the manufacturing process into one group that are all working together.”
According to Thomas, the intent is to keep plastics within North America across the chain, including the US and Mexico, rather than shipping material overseas for processing. He said that advanced separation capability has historically been concentrated in Southeast Asia and that moving mixed plastics overseas can create compliance issues under the Basel treaty. He described NEXLOOP as a route to keep separation and reintegration within North America.
The alliance structure is also meant to give manufacturers options. Thomas said OEMs and contract manufacturers could choose to send clean post-consumer recycled resin to their existing compounders, or they could work with compounders and molders within the alliance if they need additional technical or manufacturing support.
URT describes NEXLOOP as a platform designed to address recycled-content mandates, carbon and Scope 3 reporting, global compliance and brand risk. It says manufacturers would receive verified chain-of-custody documentation and flexible integration with existing suppliers, with additional support available when needed.
Thomas said the next step is taking the completed supply-chain offering back to OEMs that have previously told recyclers to coordinate directly with manufacturers and their suppliers.
“We listened to what you had to say,” Thomas said. “Now we’ve got a solution for you.”
URT and alliance partners said they plan to meet with manufacturers and supply-chain partners at the CES in Las Vegas this month to discuss the platform and pilot opportunities.
“The electronics industry deserves a better circular materials solution,” Thomas said. “NEXLOOP was built to meet that need by combining compliance, performance and flexibility into one trusted platform.”
