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].
The Brussels-based Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Forum estimates about 9 billion kilograms of e-waste is misidentified as regular waste every year. | gmstockstudio/Shutterstock
For its 6th annual International E-Waste Day, a global association of producer responsibility groups is highlighting products that consumers often dispose of improperly because they don’t recognize them as e-scrap. Continue Reading
ERI’s most recent facility opening was in Goodyear, Ariz. (pictured above). | Courtesy of ERI
After facility realignment and expansion plans come to fruition, ERI may realize a total electronics processing capacity increase of up to 30%, the company’s CEO estimated. Continue Reading
Morningstar, a financial services and analysis firm, has suggested declining copper prices might portend a broader economic slowdown. | Flegere/Shutterstock
Prices for copper have been slipping to lows not seen since the May time frame. Continue Reading
Leaders in the ITAD realm expressed concerns about client layoffs and the overall business environment. | Sarawut Aiemsinsuk/Shutterstock
The second quarter brought generally worsening business conditions for the ITAD industry, but business leaders think they’ve hit the bottom of secondary market pricing.
A survey by E-Scrap News and consulting firm Compliance Standards asked ITAD industry leaders about IT refresh cycles, competition, used device pricing, competition, hiring and capital investments, and more for the second quarter of 2023.
“Q2 started off strong but was negatively impacted by continued variability in the reuse markets,” one participant wrote (all responses remain anonymous). “This volatility continues to be our biggest challenge although we believe it is largely driven by sentiment rather than the actual strength or weakness of the market,” according to a second-quarter survey report.
After the first-quarter survey, E-Scrap News published articles covering first-quarter assessments and generally optimistic outlooks in August.
Compliance Standards and E-Scrap News have opened their survey for the third quarter of 2023. Share your perspective to receive exclusive insights on the market.
Participate in our survey of the third quarter of 2023 to receive a free report and webinar presentation covering major takeaways. All responses remain confidential.
In the meantime, the following are some takeaways from the second-quarter report, which was provided exclusively to survey participants:
Business conditions were worse: Just over 63% said second-quarter business conditions were worse than the same quarter a year prior. During the first quarter, 56% had said they were worse year over year. The respondents also indicated things were worse than the prior quarter. Specifically, in the second quarter, 47% said business conditions were worse than in the prior quarter. During the first-quarter survey, 41% had said they were worse than the prior quarter. The same general takeaway came through from questions asking whether the number of IT refresh projects were up, down or flat year over year and sequentially.
Clients layoffs cited: A number of comments from survey takers indicated that their clients were experiencing layoffs, which was slowing business. “We are seeing more layoffs in the industry among the clients we represent with white glove services,” one respondent wrote. “Companies are being forced to take this action.” Another noted, “Many companies that initiated ITAD services RFPs, evaluations, etc., have let the individuals go who were leading the project.”
Device sales are hugely important: For the first time, the second-quarter survey asked participants about their sources of revenue. In aggregate, 40% of revenue came from the sale of used devices, 16% from sales of scrap and commodities, 14% from enterprise services such as premium data destruction, 12% from sales of harvested parts and components, and 19% from other sources (numbers total 101 due to rounding).
Big capital investments planned: Looking forward, poll takers said they’re looking to make big capital investments in their companies. During the second quarter, 33% said they plan to spend between $1 million and $5 million in capital investments over the next year, and the rest said they were looking at smaller expenditures or they didn’t know. That was way up from the first-quarter survey, when 11% pointed to $1 million to $5 million investments. Company leaders pointed to vehicle upgrades, additional facilities, equipment to remove chips, ERP software investments and other projects.
Secondary market pricing looks up: Knowing how important used device sales are to ITAD service providers, E-Scrap News and Compliance Standards asked about secondary market pricing. In these answers, there were bright spots. For example, in the second quarter, 33% of respondents said secondary market prices were flat or up year over year. That may not sound great, but in the first quarter, only 5% said they were stable or higher year over year. On a sequential basis, it was the same trend, with 54% saying second-quarter prices were stable or higher than the prior quarter. In the first quarter survey, only 20% said the same thing.
“Although we anticipate continued volatility in market pricing, we are hopeful that we’ve hit bottom and will gradually begin an upward trend,” one poll taker wrote.
Morningstar, a financial services and analysis firm, has suggested declining copper prices might portend a broader economic slowdown. | Flegere/Shutterstock
Prices for copper have been slipping to lows not seen since the May time frame. Continue Reading
Oladosu Teyibo, CEO of device rental company YouWork.ai, hopes his company will provide digital access to those who could otherwise not afford it. | Konstantin Kolosov/Shutterstock
Oladosu Teyibo built a software development and recruiting company that operated in eight countries, five of them in Africa. From the outset, he experienced a “pain point” of not being able to hire people in Africa because they didn’t have the right computer equipment to work for him. Continue Reading
Leaders in the ITAD realm expressed concerns about client layoffs and the overall business environment. | Sarawut Aiemsinsuk/Shutterstock
The second quarter brought generally worsening business conditions for the ITAD industry, but business leaders think they’ve hit the bottom of secondary market pricing.
A survey by E-Scrap News and consulting firm Compliance Standards asked ITAD industry leaders about IT refresh cycles, competition, used device pricing, competition, hiring and capital investments, and more for the second quarter of 2023.
“Q2 started off strong but was negatively impacted by continued variability in the reuse markets,” one participant wrote (all responses remain anonymous). “This volatility continues to be our biggest challenge although we believe it is largely driven by sentiment rather than the actual strength or weakness of the market,” according to a second-quarter survey report.
After the first-quarter survey, E-Scrap News published articles covering first-quarter assessments and generally optimistic outlooks in August.
Compliance Standards and E-Scrap News have opened their survey for the third quarter of 2023. Share your perspective to receive exclusive insights on the market.
Participate in our survey of the third quarter of 2023 to receive a free report and webinar presentation covering major takeaways. All responses remain confidential.
In the meantime, the following are some takeaways from the second-quarter report, which was provided exclusively to survey participants:
Business conditions were worse: Just over 63% said second-quarter business conditions were worse than the same quarter a year prior. During the first quarter, 56% had said they were worse year over year. The respondents also indicated things were worse than the prior quarter. Specifically, in the second quarter, 47% said business conditions were worse than in the prior quarter. During the first-quarter survey, 41% had said they were worse than the prior quarter. The same general takeaway came through from questions asking whether the number of IT refresh projects were up, down or flat year over year and sequentially.
Clients layoffs cited: A number of comments from survey takers indicated that their clients were experiencing layoffs, which was slowing business. “We are seeing more layoffs in the industry among the clients we represent with white glove services,” one respondent wrote. “Companies are being forced to take this action.” Another noted, “Many companies that initiated ITAD services RFPs, evaluations, etc., have let the individuals go who were leading the project.”
Device sales are hugely important: For the first time, the second-quarter survey asked participants about their sources of revenue. In aggregate, 40% of revenue came from the sale of used devices, 16% from sales of scrap and commodities, 14% from enterprise services such as premium data destruction, 12% from sales of harvested parts and components, and 19% from other sources (numbers total 101 due to rounding).
Big capital investments planned: Looking forward, poll takers said they’re looking to make big capital investments in their companies. During the second quarter, 33% said they plan to spend between $1 million and $5 million in capital investments over the next year, and the rest said they were looking at smaller expenditures or they didn’t know. That was way up from the first-quarter survey, when 11% pointed to $1 million to $5 million investments. Company leaders pointed to vehicle upgrades, additional facilities, equipment to remove chips, ERP software investments and other projects.
Secondary market pricing looks up: Knowing how important used device sales are to ITAD service providers, E-Scrap News and Compliance Standards asked about secondary market pricing. In these answers, there were bright spots. For example, in the second quarter, 33% of respondents said secondary market prices were flat or up year over year. That may not sound great, but in the first quarter, only 5% said they were stable or higher year over year. On a sequential basis, it was the same trend, with 54% saying second-quarter prices were stable or higher than the prior quarter. In the first quarter survey, only 20% said the same thing.
“Although we anticipate continued volatility in market pricing, we are hopeful that we’ve hit bottom and will gradually begin an upward trend,” one poll taker wrote.
ERI’s most recent facility opening was in Goodyear, Ariz. (pictured above). | Courtesy of ERI
After facility realignment and expansion plans come to fruition, ERI may realize a total electronics processing capacity increase of up to 30%, the company’s CEO estimated. Continue Reading
As investigations into the thefts continue, Aurubis plans to file an insurance claim amounting to around $31.5 million. | Teerasak Ladnongkhun/Shutterstock
Leaders at Aurubis believe the company may have been ripped off to the tune of $194 million worth of metal, and insurance proceeds and restitution are unlikely to fully compensate the smelter company. Continue Reading
Leaders at CompuCycle say the recently installed e-plastics line will help the company sell to the domestic market. | Courtesy of CompuCycle
Houston-based processor CompuCycle is putting the finishing touches on an e-plastics sorting line, the latest domestic investment in plastics processing capacity. Continue Reading
Many of the Chromebooks purchased by schools after COVID-19 are now approaching their end of life. | KonstantinSavusia/Shutterstock
Google will now provide a decade of automatic software updates for Chromebooks, a move that will allow refurbishers to resell computers that would otherwise be destroyed for commodities recovery. Continue Reading
Warehouse owners in Phoenix have sued dozens of e-scrap companies to try to force them to help pay for the cleanup of abandoned CRT glass. | Google Maps
Four e-scrap companies agreed to pay a combined $937,000 to fund a portion of the cleanup of over 100 million pounds of CRT materials in Phoenix. Continue Reading
An Amazon worker at a reverse logistics hub holds a piece of data center equipment | Amazon
Amazon’s large-scale data center decommissioning facility coming to Pennsylvania will be a “huge part” of the company’s sustainability drive, which focuses on reusing and remanufacturing as much as possible, a company representative said. Continue Reading
The partnership will focus on bolstering a circular economy for electronics. | T. Schneider/Shutterstock
The National Retail Federation has acquired the Reverse Logistics Association, a trade group focused on product returns, refurbishment, resale and recycling for electronics and other products. Continue Reading