Associate Editor Jared Paben has worked for Resource Recycling since December 2014. Most of his earlier career was spent as a reporter for the daily newspaper in Bellingham, Wash., but he also has experience working for the Oregon volunteerism commission and for Oregon nonprofits serving low-income populations. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Many e-scrap firms that shred material or engage in other forms of data destruction are NAID AAA Certified. | Huguette Roe/Shutterstock
An industry association has made changes designed to ensure that data destruction customers don’t confuse “NAID member” to mean “NAID AAA Certified.”
Back Market will use the latest funding round to fuel its growth, including more than doubling its U.S. workforce. | Freedomz/Shutterstock
Back Market, an online marketplace selling refurbished electronics, has now raised over $1 billion in investment backing in recent years.
Battery Resourcers is planning a 154,000-square-foot processing facility in Georgia. | Courtesy of Battery Resourcers
Lithium-ion battery recycling company Battery Resourcers will open a $43 million electric vehicle battery recycling facility in Georgia, the company announced.
Cascadia Consulting Group estimated Washington residents and businesses threw away 41,441 tons of electronics in the 2020-21 audit period. | Photographee.eu/Shutterstock
As COVID-19 took hold and e-scrap collection opportunities were canceled, the public began trashing a lot more of their electronics in Washington state, according to recently reported figures.
ERI in 2019 brought on-line the Electronic Recyclers Next Innovative Efficiency (ERNIE) system for dismantling flat-screen devices. The robotic system was first installed at the company’s Fresno, Calif. headquarters. | Photo from ERI’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Data Security Report
ERI recycled 113.7 million pounds of scrap electronics and resold 4.3 million pounds of used devices in 2020, the company recently disclosed. It’s the first time the processor has released these figures.
Bill Morris of Blue Star Recyclers, which today has 52 employees, 48 of whom have a diagnosed disability. | Screenshot of online presentation.
In today’s labor market, companies may only dream about having less than 10% employee turnover and little to no absenteeism in their more-repetitive jobs. But data demonstrates those are some of the advantages of employing adults with disabilities.
In its sustainability report, Glencore noted it is looking to grow its metals recycling capabilities in North America. | PixieMe/Shutterstock
Glencore harvested nearly 100,000 pounds of precious metals and 60 million pounds of copper from electronic scrap last year, according to the company’s 2021 sustainability report.
Sims Lifecycle Services invested about $7 million to open facilities in Illinois and Tennessee to inventory, configure and ship out used data center equipment. | Fishman64/Shutterstock
With the pandemic continuing to hamper supply chains for new electronics, Sims Lifecycle Services has made significant investments in helping data centers reuse their old equipment.
This summer, TerraCycle’s EasyPak program launched mail-in serialized data destruction and electronics recycling services for businesses. | Courtesy of TerraCycle
TerraCycle has launched collection programs that will feed businesses’ used electronics to Clean Earth for data destruction and recycling. Clean Earth also recently announced its own mail-in option.
OLED televisions are among the devices California regulators are planning to add to the state’s e-scrap program. | ZikG/Shutterstock
California regulators are planning to add OLED display devices, LCD smart displays and LCD tablets to the state’s e-scrap program.