Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Leaders at both R2 and e-Stewards cited safety concerns for recycling and refurbishing operations as well as the auditors that visit them. | Courtesy R2 Corporation
The administrators of e-scrap standards are adjusting auditing and certification procedures in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. R2 and e-Stewards both published guidance on the temporary policies this week.
EPA alleged AERC was out of compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which governs hazardous waste management. | JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock
An e-scrap company must pay a $10,000 fine and hold one or more collection events costing $40,000, as part of a settlement with regulators.
Best Buy on March 22 announced its retail stores would close to the public and temporarily suspend recycling activities. | LukeandKarla.Travel/Shutterstock
Citing concerns over COVID-19, a major retailer, the largest U.S. city and a handful of other electronics recycling collection channels have paused services.
E-scrap processors report coronavirus-driven disruptions both with vendors and customers. | joshimerbin/Shutterstock
The global escalation of COVID-19 is causing supplier and customer disruption for e-scrap processors, while on a wider scale it constrains global shipping, dents stock prices and threatens an economic recession.
A European Commission plan calls for right-to-repair measures to be introduced by 2021. | Poravute Siriphiroon/Shutterstock
European lawmakers this week committed to enshrine greater device repairability in law, with their adoption of a Circular Economy Action Plan.
Rolph Payet, executive secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, speaks at the Plastics Recycling Conference and Trade Show. | Plastics Recycling Conference/Brian Adams Photography
Scrap plastic exporters should closely monitor policy changes in the countries they sell to as the global community prepares to enact more aggressive shipment requirements, according to the top staff member for the Basel Convention.
An EPC leader explained that the Edmonton region has sizable health care, energy and corporate sectors driving ITAD growth. | Maximumm/Shutterstock
The Canadian arm of ITAD operator EPC is expanding with a facility in the Edmonton area.
Mitsubishi described the acquisition as part of its plan to implement a variety of sustainability initiatives by 2030. | IgorGolovniov/Shutterstock
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has purchased two European plastics recycling companies focusing on engineered plastics, bringing supply of these recycled resins in-house.
An industry group cites experts in noting that e-waste export policy is key to stopping counterfeit electronic parts and protecting military readiness. | ThamKC/Shutterstock
A group supporting legislation to limit overseas shipments of untested used devices praised recent U.S. government action to combat the trade of counterfeit electronics. But it also noted more can be done on the export front.
The recently introduced legislation covers solar panels in residential, commercial and industrial use. | Heinz Trebuth/Shutterstock
Legislation in Arizona would establish recycling requirements for end-of-life solar panels, requiring manufacturers to create a recycling program or face a per-panel fee at point-of-sale.