The hallway is where the e-scrap deals get done. Resource Live sits down with the people running the 2026 E-Scrap Conference in New Orleans and asks why this is still the show the industry notices if you skip.
Maite Quinn, president of Resource Recycling and conference lead for E-Scrap, Chris York, vice president of business development at Mint Innovation, and Adam Shine, president of Sunnking Sustainable Solutions, walk through what changed and what did not. CRTs used to own the agenda. The lifespan problem is back, this time in solar.
Phones got thinner and drop-proof, then the batteries got glued down.
A few manufacturers are shifting: heat-release adhesive, take-apart guides, recycled content in the next product. Most are still designing for the buyer, not the dock.
They also make the case for the room. You cannot cover every state. The person you need in Texas or Illinois is usually someone you met at this show. York calls it the FOMO test: if you are not there, people ask whether you are still in business. Shine says he sees more of his customers and competitors here than at any other event, across refurb, resale, ITAD, and recycling. ReMA is the other big room. Its floor still leans metals. E-Scrap is the one built for electronics.
New Orleans is not a backdrop. First-timers get a second-line parade from the Hyatt Regency to Pat O’Brien’s on Bourbon Street. Breakfast on Wednesday is a gong show, with Bloody Marys, after pickleball that runs until 1 a.m. Cafe Du Monde, Court of Two Sisters, Herbsaint, and Frenchmen Street all get a vote. Eat off Bourbon. Play on Bourbon.
Awards get a short tease, with a full episode still to come. The Women’s RISE Award, the Billy Johnson Award, and a circularity award are on the Wednesday breakfast. Shine talks about Johnson as the lobbyist who knew Capitol Hill and the call from Robin Wiener the night before the 2024 show. Kiser is moderating a critical-minerals session Tuesday, October 27, at 2 p.m. with Chris York, Cody Oliver, and Ben Kincaid.
E-Scrap: The Longevity Conference runs October 26–28, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Book at e-scrapconference.com.
If this is the show you use to see the whole floor in three days, like the video, leave a comment with the session you are not missing, subscribe to the Resource Recycling Podcast, and turn on notifications. The awards episode is next.
Transcript of episode 4: The Resource Recycling Podcast
Host: Uriah Kiser | Guests: Maite Quinn, Resource Recycling; Chris York, Mint Innovation; Adam Shine, Sunnking Sustainable Solutions
Editor’s note: The first few minutes of the live recording did not capture. The published episode uses a recorded introduction, then cuts into the New Orleans discussion, which opens mid-sentence.
Intro
Uriah Kiser: Hey everyone, I’m Uriah Kiser, host of the Resource Recycling Podcast. This is Resource Live, where we’re bringing you all the information you need about the upcoming e-Scrap conference in New Orleans.
Uriah Kiser: If you’ve never been to e-Scrap, you might be wondering, what are you walking into? And what am I going to New Orleans for? And what am I going to be learning about? And who are some of the people that I’ll be able to meet and connect with? And how is this going to improve my career? And moreover, how much fun is this really going to be?
Uriah Kiser: Well, we have answers for you. We talked to the key people involved in e-Scrap this year.
Uriah Kiser: We talked to Maite Quinn-Richards. She’s president of Resource Recycling, Inc., the magazine that produces this podcast, and executive director of the U.S. Flexible Film Initiative. She is the conference lead for e-Scrap and named the 2026 steering committee. Before Resource Recycling, she worked in operations, commodity sales, and private equity, including business development at Sims.
Uriah Kiser: Also on the podcast today, Chris York. He’s the vice president of business development at Mint Innovation. He’s based in Dallas, and he has spent nearly two decades in electronics recycling.
Uriah Kiser: And Adam Shine. He is the president of Sunnking Sustainable Solutions. He’s been president since March 2022 and was vice president from 2015.
Uriah Kiser: So very excited to get into all of this on this Resource Live podcast, all about the upcoming e-Scrap conference, October 26 through 28 at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans. Let’s get into it.
The deals in the hallway
Adam Shine: …and work together, there is tremendous opportunity to work with one another, to learn best practices from one another. There’s a group in this industry that I talk to fairly regularly, and it’s kind of like an idea-sharing session every time we talk. What are you seeing in the markets? What are you experiencing? And these are people that I sometimes do business with and sometimes compete with.
Adam Shine: You know, we even have a competitor across town we get along great with, and I’ve got nothing bad to say about them. And there are opportunities, as Chris alluded to, to collaborate. You can’t be all things to all people. You can’t cover every area of the United States in a lot of cases. So partnerships, having a good network, I think are incredibly important in what we do.
Adam Shine: So to build that out — and I can’t tell you the number of times over my almost-twenty-year career in the industry that I’ve needed somebody in Texas or I’ve needed somebody in Illinois. We know people from the industry that we can call on because we have those relationships. It’s critically important.
Adam Shine: I joke with Chris a lot about his connections and all the different companies he’s worked for, and I give him a hard time about it. But the reality is, because of all those different companies and opportunities he’s had, he’s very well connected and knows a guy. He always knows a guy. So it’s good to be able to collaborate on that level.
Uriah Kiser: And that goes all back to the deals that are done in the hallway. And I might repeat some of this stuff because I think we had a bit of a drop-off there. So I might repeat some of the stuff we might have said before.
Uriah Kiser: But we talked about the changes in this conference as everybody looks forward to going to New Orleans. You said earlier that there used to be a lot of talk about CRTs. And now we’ve moved into some various other different things. So if you could recap some of those changes. We missed that part. That part dropped out. I want to make sure we get that in.
From CRTs to solar
Adam Shine: Yeah. I mean, obviously CRTs used to win the day in terms of topics that were readily discussed. I mean, I remember going to e-Scrap, and there was a panel of all the leaders of the CRT community. And it’s interesting. These were the experts on CRTs at the time. And a few years later, I think maybe one or two of them had still been around. So it’s sort of interesting the way we go through product life cycles and things change and people come in.
Adam Shine: CRTs was an interesting one because a lot of people didn’t want to invest, or couldn’t invest, either because it was too costly or they didn’t think it made sense. But you knew that at some point CRTs were going to go away. So how do you decide to invest millions of dollars into technology to handle this problem when you know that there’s a short lifespan to the issue?
Adam Shine: We’re seeing things now like we talked about solar. Solar is probably the new CRT, and there are companies out there that are working really hard on trying to figure it out.
Adam Shine: But I find one of the things that I think we’re missing in our lives as consumers is design for recycling. I talk about it a lot. I think manufacturers could and should be considering end of life a little bit more. And I know, in talking with some manufacturers that I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with in the past, they design products for what consumers want. So consumers want a thinner phone that is drop resistant. It won’t stop working if you drop it. So they’ve not only made it thinner by smaller, thinner batteries, but then they glue the batteries down as well to make them drop resistant. Well, that creates a problem, obviously, in the background for companies like ours when they go to recycle those.
Adam Shine: So I think the products have changed. I think the concerns, the issues with recycling, probably remain. Although I would say that I’m starting to see a little bit more focus on the part of the manufacturers in terms of using recycled materials in new products, and also considering end of life. Maybe not making it easier always, but some manufacturers are using now a glue that can be heated with a black light and removed. I see another manufacturer that’s putting product information out about how to take apart their devices. So I’m seeing a little shift now, which is good.
Gong Show, breakfast, pickleball
Uriah Kiser: Maite, we’ve got a parade. We’ve got pickleball. We’ve got a gong show at a breakfast. I mean, I’ve never had a gong show at any conference I’ve ever been to. So let’s talk about some of the fun things that we have got planned here in New Orleans.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Yeah. Well, the Gong Show. I’ve been reaching out to people to try to convince people to get up on stage and show us their talents. So if you guys, Adam or Chris, you have a special talent. I don’t know.
Chris York: What is the Gong Show about? Talk to me.
Maite Quinn-Richards: So basically, we’re having the award ceremony Wednesday morning. So the idea was, how do you make that fun, right? It’s the breakfast time. It’s like you have to do something where it’s fun. And so I started thinking about skits, right? And so we kind of all were brainstorming. I think actually Uriah was talking about the prizes, which could be totally cool. Maybe next year we figure that one out.
Maite Quinn-Richards: But the Gong Show is kind of this thing where we can just draw upon people. Have you seen The Gong Show?
Chris York: I have. Yeah. It’s been a long time, but yes.
Maite Quinn-Richards: So usually it’s people that really take themselves seriously, getting up there and showcasing their talent. We’ll have a couple judges. So we are recruiting to get some people up on stage.
Adam Shine: I’m very sorry to report that I have no talent.
Chris York: I would say, yeah, I don’t have any hidden talents at all.
Maite Quinn-Richards: There was a guy on an episode that I watched who was making a sound, just doing that. And that was his thing for sixty seconds. So, believe it or not, we all were put here with some sort of talent. So I’m sure you guys would be great.
Chris York: Well, another way you could maybe make it fun, just getting back to the early days of e-Scrap, is maybe Bloody Marys and mimosas.
Maite Quinn-Richards: I think we’re doing Bloody Marys and mimosas for breakfast.
Chris York: Oh, perfect. Good. I’m in.
Maite Quinn-Richards: There you go. And we’ll make it a little bit later start, because we have pickleball until like one in the morning.
Chris York: Oh, yeah. It’s until one in the morning?
Maite Quinn-Richards: It’s like eight to one.
Chris York: Yeah. Because aren’t they doing — they’ve got a DJ and stuff coming in, I think, as well.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Oh, yeah.
Chris York: I didn’t realize it was so late.
Adam Shine: Chris, I played against you last year.
Chris York: Well, you tried.
Adam Shine: I mean, Chris, that comment was right on, because I was going to say, why are we playing until one? It won’t take me that long to win.
Chris York: Yeah. That’s awesome. So Jeff Gloyd and I will be partnering again.
Adam Shine: I still want to play you too.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Yeah. I literally have not played pickleball since last year when we played. And we have, at my local Y, pickleball every single day at nine o’clock. And someone that we work with actually lives here in my town. And I’ve sent her a couple text messages already. Are you ready for this morning? So I’m trying to get her. I have to practice at least once before we go.
Chris York: That’s good. I haven’t played since then either.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Oh, good. So I know who I’ll attack.
The second line
Uriah Kiser: Let’s talk about the parade, because I’m actually looking forward to this. It’s my first time out in New Orleans. Is this down to the French Quarter? Are we walking from the Hyatt?
Maite Quinn-Richards: We’re walking to Bourbon Street.
Uriah Kiser: We’re walking to Bourbon Street. Enough said. Let’s talk about it.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Second line parades — people do them all the time in New Orleans, and you have to get permits and things like that. People have their weddings and different parties. So we went through that whole process. We got the permit, and we’ll have a band that’s coming and picking us up from the hotel and walking down to Bourbon Street and then ending at Pat O’Brien’s, which is awesome. This pub that’s on Bourbon Street. It’s really cool. It has dueling pianos, a really beautiful outside spot. So that’ll be just a nice way to start off the evening, on Sunday night.
Adam Shine: So I was in New Orleans not long ago and we did that, and it was incredible. So yeah, I think anybody who’s listening definitely would want to be part of that.
New Orleans stories
Uriah Kiser: So give me a cool story. I talked to Matt on the podcast, and he told me that he went on a bowfishing trip when he was in New Orleans. They went out, I think it was just before the conference. He went down a few days early, got a boat, went out, used a bow and arrow to catch his fish, brought it back into the dock, and they cooked it up right across the street from where the port is. I thought that was a really cool story. Anybody have a cool New Orleans story like that?
Chris York: Probably not many I can talk about. Yeah, many good nights on Bourbon Street, I will say that. And I do remember getting after it one of my first e-Scraps. So nothing overly exciting other than waking up feeling pretty lousy the next day. But I did wake up and did participate the next day. It was rough.
Chris York: Yeah, I remember. Actually went to a — God, Adam, you might have been there. I’m not sure if it was an ISRI conference, an APR conference, something in New Orleans. But we had a meeting there, and the meeting was at nine o’clock in the morning, and somebody showed up just coming out of the bars. And you could definitely smell it as they sat down. You’re like, what just happened? But it turned out that the night before, a lot of people got arrested. They were on the banisters, hanging off. Those are the kind of interesting stories that I’ve heard.
Adam Shine: Par for the course in New Orleans, for sure. I’ve ended up on a few of those balconies.
Uriah Kiser: So let’s talk about some of those balconies, because I’m looking for the best bin. I’m looking for the cool restaurant to go to, that pub that you got to go to. So you mentioned Pat O’Brien’s for the parade. Are there any favorite spots that you have over the years, when you get outside of the conference and go see what’s what?
Adam Shine: I haven’t done a whole lot of sightseeing there, but obviously beignets. Café du Monde is the spot for that. Court of Two Sisters for dessert, for Bananas Foster. It’s fantastic.
Chris York: Yeah, you can’t really go wrong. The food’s great there. All the bars are fun. I think at one point — and this is years ago — it was like buy one beer, get three free or something. So you’re walking around with a big old mug full of beer.
Adam Shine: And one of my favorite places is a place called Herbsaint. I went there and I try to make it back every time I’m in New Orleans. But I had a pasta dish that was the most unique thing I had had. A lot of people like egg on things, right? Like on hamburgers. Now people do a sunny-side-up egg. Well, they had pasta with guanciale, which I think is like cheek. It’s almost like a bacon. And then they had a sauce, and then a panko-crusted fried poached egg on top of it. So you cut the egg and then literally it drips all over the pasta. And it was one of the greatest dishes I had ever had. So if you’re a foodie, you can’t go wrong in New Orleans. There are so many good places to eat there. That’s one of my favorites, though. Herbsaint, it’s called.
Uriah Kiser: Oh, and the famous sandwich, right? It’s a muffuletta. Isn’t that what it’s called?
Maite Quinn-Richards: Yeah. They’re humongous. So do not get a whole muffuletta. You’ll have to get at least a half, because even a half is so big.
Uriah Kiser: I’ve never even heard of this. Is this like the Buc-ee’s three-six-meat sandwich? I mean, what is this? What are we talking about here?
Maite Quinn-Richards: I think mostly it’s that it’s different bread. It’s almost like a focaccia-type bread. And then a bunch of different meats, and then kind of like a sub, but in that type of bread.
Uriah Kiser: Oh, you’re making me hungry. What’s the weather like this time of year? I mean, is it still hot, sticky? Are we getting into cool time?
Maite Quinn-Richards: No, it’ll be nice. It’ll be beautiful. It’ll be perfect. It should be cooler.
Chris York: Yeah. Sixties, seventies. It’ll be decent.
Uriah Kiser: So it’s kind of like the perfect time to visit, right? Because you’re not steamy, sweating, humid.
Chris York: You’ll still have some of the humidity, but it won’t be terrible. Bourbon Street will maybe smell a little less stale.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Yeah, hopefully they’re getting some rain right now. But also, for anybody listening, another good spot is Frenchmen Street, which is kind of more of an — well, I wouldn’t say more up and coming. It’s been around for a while, but live music, and maybe a little bit more upscale.
Chris York: Yeah, like a more mature Bourbon Street.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Yes, exactly. So Frenchmen Street’s a good place to hang out too.
Chris York: Bourbon Street’s great, though, and especially if you haven’t been there. I mean, it’s a rite of passage.
Uriah Kiser: Yeah. I have a reporter friend who used to be a TV reporter in the city, and she told me, go to Bourbon Street, drink on Bourbon Street, do not eat on Bourbon Street, for various different reasons, cleanliness being the top of it when it comes to some of the places over there. So you might check out Frenchmen Street. It might be a little bit better.
Chris York: For sure. Yeah, Frenchmen Street’s great. But there are great restaurants everywhere. You can literally throw a coin and hit a great restaurant.
Why this show
Uriah Kiser: Adam, I want to recap this because you were talking about this earlier. When you said — and Chris, you probably chimed in on this too — that this conference, this e-Scrap, is like the OG conference. It is the conference that brings so many industry professionals, both new and old in the scene, together every year. And you guys have been going for years. Talk to me about why this conference is the must-go-to every year.
Adam Shine: Yeah, I think, from my perspective, it’s legacy, right? It was the first one that was out there. And that’s not the only reason, but you always think about, when you are deciding on what events to go to, where will people notice if I’m not there sometimes, right? Because I’ve been going for all these years. I’m so used to seeing people. If I’m not there, people wonder, hey, what’s up? Are they still in business? Are things going well?
Adam Shine: So for me, again, it was my first introduction into the electronics industry. First show I went to. I would say by far, I see all of my people that I work with at this show more than any other show. There are other shows that I go to, but they’re a different sort of feel and tone and focus.
Adam Shine: I think this kind of touches on all parts of the industry, whether it’s refurb, resale, ITAD, recycling. There’s definitely thought-leadership aspects. I always think the educational sessions are good. I think the show floor is one of the better ones.
Adam Shine: And I will tell you, obviously, I’ve been very involved in ReMA, and it’s tough to find a show floor that’s really dedicated and focused on electronics. When you go to the ReMA conference, there’s a lot of good educational sessions. A lot of the people on the floor are sort of focused on metals, for no other reason than that’s just who signs up.
Adam Shine: But I think Maite and her team, and even legacy before her, have done a nice job of bringing in not only companies that focus on electronics, whether it’s software related — I mean, I’ve seen some robotic stuff, which is really cool. Love new technology, especially as it relates to our industry. There are buyers there that have booths and have a presence. So I think really they’ve done a nice job historically, and continue to. And frankly, I think they continue to refocus on growth and new opportunities, but I think they do a good job of touching all areas of the industry.
Adam Shine: And for me, it’s important. If I only have limited funds or limited availability to travel, I want to utilize that time on something that kind of touches all corners of the industry. And I feel like the e-Scrap conference has always done that for me.
Chris York: Yeah, just to echo what Adam was saying. It’s kind of the FOMO piece, right? If I’m not there, what am I actually going to miss here? And when I started in the industry, it was pretty much e-Scrap and ReMA, or ISRI at the time’s conventions, that were the two main ones. And now you’ve got a bunch of different ones. But yeah, you can go here, you can see everybody you need to see. It’s done a great job of diversifying and adding in some of the newer pieces of the industry, whether it’s ITAD, data center stuff, mobile destruction, things like that. Just kind of slowly adding in what some of the hotter topics are. And so it’s just always been a great conference to see everybody and learn more about the industry.
Awards tease
Uriah Kiser: I tell you, this is going to be an action-packed, information-packed, fun-packed session. We’ve actually got a whole other podcast coming up to talk about the awards show, and what that means, and what we’re going to be doing. So just talk to the Women in Circularity Breakfast and the awards. Just tease it here, because we get into that next podcast that you won’t want to miss. It’ll be right here on the Resource Recycling website and YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. Let us know about it right now.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Yeah, so we’ll have the Woman Rise Award, really a woman in our industry who’s been helping other women and empowering women, as well as the Billy Johnson Award. Billy Johnson’s a legacy in our industry from ReMA. So we’re really honored to be able to celebrate his life and give someone an award in his name. As well as a circularity award, which I think Adam is up for, which is great. So yeah, excited for that.
Adam Shine: And yeah, is it a cliché to say I’m just excited to be nominated?
Adam Shine: Just touching on — I do want to touch on Billy Johnson for a second. I love that you guys are doing the Billy Johnson Award. Billy was a near and dear friend to me when I came into the industry. And it’s funny, because I get a lot of memories on my phone from pictures of the e-Scrap past. I can’t tell you how many e-Scrap conferences I went to with Billy, and how many dinners we had. And the guy was the most loving, incredible, gentle individual, who really knew his way around Capitol Hill, had incredible connections, and really is somebody I dearly miss in our industry.
Adam Shine: I remember I found out that he had passed away, I think, the night before I was heading to the e-Scrap show. And he was supposed to be there. And I got a call from Robin Wiener with the unfortunate news. And I remember sitting at my office, at my house, crying. Total disbelief. I was due to see him in a day. And yeah, so that e-Scrap was definitely far more somber, because so many of us just were in disbelief. And I remember we had a toast for him on the show floor. And anyways, he’s missed. But I think it’s incredible that you guys are doing that. I’m really happy that you’re carrying on his legacy. And he did great, great things for the industry.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Yeah, he did. He did.
Close
Uriah Kiser: E-Scrap. You won’t want to miss it. I mean, you guys have certainly sold it to me. And I’m excited to meet you guys in person and see everyone and see the city. escrapconference.com. Book now if you haven’t already. What in the world are you waiting for? The conference is October 26th through the 28th in New Orleans. Where else?
Adam Shine: Yeah. And you’re right. Just a quick plug. I’m moderating a session with Chris, Cody Oliver, and Ben Kincaid on recovering critical minerals. So as we talk about how things have changed, critical minerals is really a hot topic right now. And the demand is going to far outweigh what they’re able to mine. So recovering these critical minerals is really important. And would love everybody to attend that on Tuesday, the 27th, at 2 p.m. So looking forward to it.
Uriah Kiser: Thank you guys so much.
Adam Shine: Thank you.
Chris York: Yeah. Thanks for having us.
Uriah Kiser: Yeah. Look forward to seeing you guys in a few short weeks.
Maite Quinn-Richards: Awesome. Thank you, Uriah. Thank you.
Uriah Kiser: Guys — Chris, Adam, Maite — if you want more conversations like this, please like this video, share it, hit that bell notification and subscribe button. So you know when we’re talking about e-scrap, circularity, right here on the Resource Recycling Podcast. We’ll see you on the next one. Bye.
All: Bye.
