Marissa Heffernan worked at Resource Recycling from January 2022 through June 2025, first as staff reporter and then as associate editor. Marissa Heffernan started working for Resource Recycling in January 2022 after spending several years as a reporter at a daily newspaper in Southwest Washington. After developing a special focus on recycling policy, they were also the editor of the monthly newsletter Policy Now.
Marissa Heffernan moderates a panel at the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference. | Big Wave Photography / Resource Recycling.
When I started working for Resource Recycling, I thought I knew quite a bit about recycling. After all, I grew up in a bottle bill state, turning in cans for candy money, and was the child checking neighbors’ recycling bins to make sure they were using it right. Continue Reading
Li-Cycle has filed for bankruptcy in both Canadian and American courts after a tumultuous few years. | Around The World Photos/Shutterstock
Canadian battery processor Li-Cycle filed for bankruptcy, after warning for months of impending financial trouble, and is continuing to try to find a buyer that will allow it to continue operations. Continue Reading
Illinois-based RDI is banned from e-Stewards certification for two years after an investigation uncovered critical non-conformities in its downstream practices. RDI said the non-conformities are a misunderstanding. | donvictorio/Shutterstock
The Basel Action Network announced a two-year e-Stewards certification ban for RDI Inc., an IT asset disposition company that applied for certification but then withdrew after BAN found “critical nonconformities” in where the company was shipping e-scrap. RDI said it stems from a misunderstanding. Continue Reading
The bill applies to devices purchased after Sept. 1, 2026, that are worth more than $50. | Apitoca/Shutterstock
Texas legislators became the first in a “red state” to send a right-to-repair consumer electronics bill to the governor’s desk, and the bill differs in several ways from other recent laws. Continue Reading
Two bills are awaiting signatures, in Texas and Illinois, that would set up a solar panel and wind turbine stewardship requirement for facilities and alter an existing e-scrap recycling program. | GreenThumbShots/Shutterstock
Bills adding solar facility recycling requirements in Texas and changes to Illinois’ e-scrap recycling program are sitting on their respective governors’ desks. Continue Reading
A federal lawmaker has introduced the “Intergovernmental Critical Minerals Task Force Act,” seeking to diminish U.S. reliance on China for critical minerals via domestic mining, recycling and finding other trade partners. | Joaquin Corbalan/Shutterstock
A federal lawmaker has introduced the “Intergovernmental Critical Minerals Task Force Act,” seeking to diminish U.S. reliance on China for critical minerals via domestic mining, recycling and finding other trade partners. Continue Reading
Bloom ESG predicted that in the near future a new generation of environmental certificates, called carbon insets, will become a revenue stream for recyclers. | Chayanuphol/Shutterstock
In the near future, ITAD and e-scrap recyclers should expect industry consolidation and the rise of a new kind of environmental certificate that could create revenue streams for recyclers, advisory firm Bloom ESG predicted in a new white paper. Continue Reading
Electronics related bills both passed and died this month across the U.S. as legislative sessions wind down. | Vietnam Stock Photos/Shutterstock
Governors in Washington and Nebraska signed e-scrap bills into law recently, giving Washingtonians the right to repair their consumer electronics and Nebraskans an extended producer responsibility program for batteries. Continue Reading
The Secure E-waste Export and Recycling Act has been introduced at least six times since 2015, as well as included in other bills, but has not yet passed. | MOLPIX/Shutterstock
A federal bill that would restrict U.S. exports of e-scrap has re-emerged, this time as HB 2998. Continue Reading
SB 163, which would set up an extended producer responsibility program for batteries in Colorado, passed both chambers and is now on the governor’s desk. | Chepko-Danil-Vitalevich/Shutterstock
Colorado is adding extended producer responsibility for another material stream to its state laws, this time for batteries.