Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace has scored a handful of the top consumer electronics manufacturers on the recyclability of their devices, among other criteria. Although some companies stood out as positive examples, the report found there is much room for improvement.
Proposed legislation dramatically overhauls Pennsylvania’s e-scrap program, adding a point-of-sale fee on certain devices and making manufacturers financially responsible for end-of-life management of all devices collected under the law.
Sarah Murray of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources speaks at E-Scrap 2017.
When it comes to CRT management, the profit is shaky and the industry is littered with horror stories of stockpiles and legal battles to determine who pays for cleanup.
Kyle Wiens of iFixit speaks at E-Scrap 2017.
Repair is a growing portion of the e-scrap field, and experts predict it will continue to increase as companies learn the revenue that can be realized by reusing rather than shredding certain good-quality components.
A second e-scrap company has been released from an Arizona CRT abandonment lawsuit targeting upstream suppliers of the material.
Future funding levels for the U.S. EPA are one step closer to certainty after lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives approved government spending outlined in a dozen agency-specific budget bills this month.
Bob McCarthy
There was a clear thread woven through E-Scrap 2017: Reuse and refurbishment activities are dramatically increasing in the end-of-life electronics management industry. One executive at the center of the shift outlined steps to move into device repair successfully.
Bolstering domestic markets is a logical way to reduce exports, and that concept is behind a just-announced program that’s tied to an e-scrap certification.
Lithium-ion batteries will come to play a far larger role in the scrap electronics stream in the future, and an expert says companies will need to adapt to the challenges and opportunities these materials present. Continue Reading
Seven e-scrap entities have been accused of questionable downstream practices by the Basel Action Network, after tracking devices showed they were involved in moving materials that were eventually exported to developing countries.