Editor’s note: Electronics recycling will be featured in sessions at the 2026 E-Scrap: The Longevity Conference Oct. 26-28 in New Orleans.
Electronic Recyclers International (ERI) is continuing its global ITAD expansion, partnering with Eco Recycling (Ecoreco) to launch in India later this year.
The two companies will co-own ERI India when it opens in Mumbai. The arrangement will combine the ITAD experience of ERI, one of the largest electronics recycling companies in the US, with the established local practices of Ecoreco, India’s only publicly traded e-scrap recycling company. The arrangement was formally announced Monday.
The move grants ERI access to the world’s third-largest e-scrap producer behind China and the United States. Indian law bans shipping e-scrap into or out of the country, meaning an arrangement like this was the best way ERI could gain access to material there.
“India is home to the fastest-growing mobility market on the planet, opening a huge window of opportunity for responsible recycling,” said John Shegerian, ERI chairman and CEO. “It also has one of the fastest-growing middle-class populations in the world. Importantly, many of our OEM clients, customers and partners from the US and all over the world are doing business there, and they have specifically asked us to bring what we do to support them in the US to India.”
With a quarter-century of experience, Ecoreco is well-positioned as an ITAD leader in southern Asia, said BK Soni, Ecoreco’s chairman and managing director. He considers the move a natural next step in the company’s growth and said it will help bolster the company’s scale, technology, traceability and resource access.
Global march
“Over this journey, we have experienced different cycles, challenges and transformations in the industry, and have consistently adapted to changing technologies, market conditions and customer expectations with flexibility and resilience,” he said. “We see this relationship as a natural next step in that journey — bringing together our respective strengths, experiences and perspectives to create greater opportunities for the future.”
The relationship mirrors those ERI entered into earlier this year elsewhere in Asia. ERI and Green Marble opened ERI Vietnam earlier this summer. That was preceded by ERI Japan, a venture ERI and Itochu Corp. launched in the spring. As in those cases, ERI will contribute processing infrastructure, technology and ITAD capabilities to ERI India, while Ecoreco will provide sourcing, market access and regional knowledge.
“Japan is the world’s fourth-largest economy and is arguably where the electronics industry started,” Shegerian said. “So it makes sense that ERI Japan would be the ideal first stop for our international growth initiative …Vietnam happens to be the fastest-growing economy in all of Asia, with 8.18% GDP year-over-year growth in the first half of 2026. And also, the population in Vietnam grows by about 1 million people a year. Yet another benefit to establishing ourselves in Vietnam is that the culture there is highly entrepreneurial, capitalist and poised for significant business growth.”
ERI, based in Fresno, operates eight facilities and three offices in the US. It maintains dozens of international partnerships, but the deals this year establish ERI’s first company-owned foreign facilities. Shegerian said the local governments have been welcoming in each region, and local partners are helping to line up business for the new facilities. Soni, meanwhile, said his customers should see greater geographical coverage, enhanced capabilities and broader solutions.
More growth expected
Shegerian said the move also helps fulfill a US government request to build up more infrastructure in the four nations making up The Quad diplomatic partnership — the US, India, Japan and Australia — that works to maintain a free, open Indo-Pacific region. He said ERI is on track to become the first “responsible recycler” to open facilities in all four Quad nations before the end of this year.
In addition to a facility in Australia/New Zealand, Shegerian said ERI plans to announce partnerships in South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico by early next year. That should be followed by five or six European locations next year.
“I believe that as a business, either you stay where you are and potentially become stagnant, or you push the boundaries and test the team and yourself to continually improve and grow,” Shegerian said. “And with growth abroad certainly comes enhancements at home, too. There are best practices that we are learning from our in-country partners that will only make us better, just as we are sharing our best practice protocols with them.”
ERI has also been expanding its business domestically this year. The company entered a partnership with Cyclic Materials that will see it sort and pre-process materials from magnet-bearing electronics for Cyclic to then perform rare earth extraction. A similar arrangement is in place with ReElement Technologies.
