Back to Top

Author Archives: Colin Staub

About Colin Staub

Colin-StaubColin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].

E-scrap sector continues solar processing push

Published: May 22, 2025
Updated:

by

Size-reduced solar panels at Com2 Recycling Solutions’ Illinois facility. The company is using the glass to offset declining CRT volumes. | Photo courtesy Com2

Electronics processors are increasingly adding solar panel recycling capacity, in some cases processing the panels similarly to declining streams like CRT glass and in other cases rolling out entirely new technologies, companies said in recent interviews. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , , |

Battery danger and solutions take center stage at ReMA

Published: May 15, 2025
Updated:

by

Eric Frederickson, vice president of operations at Call2Recycle, presented a battery burn demonstration alongside the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. | Colin Staub/E-Scrap News

After a year that recorded a notable increase in e-scrap facility battery fires, the growing hazard and ways of mitigating it received ample attention at the Recycled Materials Association’s annual conference in San Diego this week.

Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |

Suppliers targeted for Iowa CRT stockpile cleanup costs

Published: May 15, 2025
Updated:

by

Gaylord boxes of cathode ray tube glass stockpiled wall to wall in a former Recycletronics site in Akron, Iowa, which was cleaned up in 2022 under the U.S. EPA’s purview. | Photo Courtesy U.S. EPA

Two e-scrap collectors that allegedly sent cathode ray tube glass to failed Midwest processor Recycletronics recently received demand letters from the U.S. EPA seeking compensation for more than $1.3 million in cleanup costs from Superfund remediation activities in 2022.

Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |

Experts focus on safety after ‘disconcerting’ rise in deaths

Published: May 15, 2025
Updated:

by
Electronics recycling collection event.

The safety-focused summit came after the latest federal data showed a backslide in waste and recycling industry safety. | Susan Montgomery/Shutterstock

As recycling companies seek to improve workplace safety amid an industry-wide increase in on-the-job fatalities, experts at a recent industry summit advised managers to focus their attention on — and for top executives, even to attend — the regular pre-shift safety meetings.

Continue Reading

Posted in News | Tagged , |

Maryland county expands curbside e-scrap collection

Published: April 24, 2025
Updated:

by

A county collection program servicing 223,000 single-family households is rolling out on-demand curbside electronics and battery collection accepting virtually all types of e-scrap. | Photo courtesy Montgomery County Department of Environment Protection

By creatively utilizing existing collection infrastructure, a county government in Maryland is rolling out curbside electronics and battery collection for all electronics at no additional cost. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |

US rare earth recycling scales up amid trade tensions

Published: April 24, 2025
Updated:

by
Scrap hard drives for recycling.

Hard drives provide one source of rare earth elements in the end-of-life electronics stream. | Kazu326/Shutterstock

As rare earth elements draw mainstream headlines for their entanglement in the U.S.-China trade war, recent announcements from an ITAD operator, an OEM and a magnet processor indicate the domestic end-of-life device stream is increasingly providing feedstock for rare earth end users. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |

Tariff whirlwind continues with delays, exemptions

Published: April 17, 2025
Updated:

by

Smartphones and laptops are exempt from U.S. tariffs targeting Chinese imports, but other goods are currently subject to 145% in duties. | Metamorworks/Shutterstock

Country-specific reciprocal tariffs have been pushed out until July, but a universal base rate tariff rolled out last week, which covers all countries, and earlier metals tariffs remain in effect. Meanwhile, an all-out trade war between the U.S. and China is intensifying. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |

Critical mineral order calls for recycling incentives

Published: April 17, 2025
Updated:

by
Neodymium-RHJPhtotoandilustration-Shutterstock

China dominates the global production of rare earth elements, and the U.S. wants to find ways to change that. | RHJ Photo and Illustration/Shutterstock

The White House this week issued an executive order directing the Department of Commerce to explore the effects of critical mineral imports on national security. Among other points, it calls for the agency to explore policies boosting recycling of minerals like cobalt, nickel, aluminum and palladium, as well as the 17 rare earth elements. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |

Refurbishment parts supplier opens US production site

Published: April 10, 2025
Updated:

by

The Refurb Company provides a variety of stick-on products that can be applied during the refurbishment process to upgrade the cosmetics of a well-worn device. | Photo courtesy The Refurb Company

A company providing parts to refurbishers that increase used device value and marketability has opened a U.S. location in partnership with a domestic IT asset disposition firm, representing what company leaders say is a push to localize all aspects of the refurbishment process. Continue Reading

Posted in News | Tagged |

California processor draws equity investment

Published: April 10, 2025
Updated:

by

CEAR in 2024 processed 12 million pounds of electronics at its electronics recycling facility in the Sacramento area. | Photo courtesy CEAR

Longtime e-scrap and IT asset disposition firm CEAR has received an investment from a Texas-based capital firm, priming the ITAD operation for future growth. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |