Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Changes in pricing for various metals largely balanced each other out this year, e-scrap industry experts noted. | Iryna-Imago/Shutterstock
Prices for key e-scrap metals have experienced a wild ride this year, and the shifts in value have piled onto global trade regulations and ongoing dematerialization to create a challenging economic picture for the industry. Continue Reading
Logitech reported using 30,800 tons of post-consumer recycled plastic in 2023. | Hernan E. Schmidt/Shutterstock
Logitech upped its use of recycled plastic last year, including e-plastics recovered from end-of-life electronics, according to its recently released impact report. Continue Reading
The province’s four-year pilot program will become permanent on April 1. | Butenkov Aleksei/Shutterstock
Canada’s oldest provincial electronics recycling program will add more than 500 device types to its accepted materials list, making permanent a pilot program that’s been under way for four years. Continue Reading
The U.S. EPA is working on a Battery Collection Best Practices and Battery Labeling Guidelines project, which will provide a toolkit for local governments to use when implementing battery collection programs, among other deliverables. | Chepko-Danil-Vitalevich/Shutterstock
The U.S. EPA has held a series of expert working groups, aiming to find the most effective strategies to keep batteries out of the garbage and recycling streams. For a growing number of municipalities, including one major U.S. city, that is coming to mean offering the convenience of curbside collection.
Iron Mountain reported data center decommissioning activities are increasing in demand, largely attributed to the rise of AI services requiring refreshes to bring in state-of-the-art equipment. | Bandersnatch/Shutterstock
Major ITAD provider Iron Mountain reported second-quarter revenue growth of 30% over the prior year, which company leaders attributed to higher business volume and improved used component pricing. Continue Reading
ERI reintroduced 120.39 million pounds of commodities into the economy and processed 3.6 million pounds of electronics for reuse in 2023. | SibFilm/Shutterstock
Of the 124 million pounds of e-scrap nationwide processor ERI collected last year, 97% was processed for commodity recovery and the remaining 3% went to reuse. That was one takeaway from the company’s latest sustainability report. Continue Reading
Basel Action Network and Sustainable Electronics Recycling International have put aside their long-standing differences to help U.S. members comply with the Basel Convention. | Mayday6510/Shutterstock
Upcoming changes to the Basel Convention are likely to disrupt some industry practices when they take effect next year. But the changes have already had one remarkable impact: They’ve brought together two often rival certification organizations to advocate for industry-wide compliance with the new rules. Continue Reading
Whistleblowers are invited to report a variety of poor recycling practices in the e-scrap industry. | GaudiLab/Shutterstock
The Basel Action Network this week rolled out a confidential reporting website seeking to make it easier for observers to report poor e-scrap management practices, such as questionable exports of devices and e-plastics, data security lapses and problematic storage or disposal. Continue Reading
Samsung has collected 13.9 billion pounds of e-scrap since 2009. | MilsiArt/Shutterstock
Samsung collected 1.3 billion pounds of end-of-life electronics last year, its largest ever single-year global collection figure. Continue Reading
Verizon is entering the ITAD business with a new program, Verizon Business Complete. | Elliott Cowand Jr/Shutterstock
OEM Verizon is rolling out a program for businesses to supply their employees with smartphones, to manage those devices during use and to collect and facilitate recycling of the smartphones every two years. Continue Reading