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 are also the editor of the monthly newsletter Policy Now. Heffernan can be contacted at [email protected].
Closing the Loop is partnering with Vodafone Germany to scale up its collection of broken phones in African countries for recycling. | Xolodan/Shutterstock
Vodafone and Closing the Loop have partnered together with the goal of recycling one used device from a country that lacks formal recycling capacity for every phone Vodafone sells in Germany.
HP’s sustainability report notes in 2021 the company used 4,300 tons of recycled metal in its products, which is about 0.4% of its total metal use. | Tran Phan Thanh/Shutterstock
HP used three companies to refurbish and reuse its devices in 2021 and about 40 recyclers, according to its annual report.
The Washington Department of Ecology asked over 100 governments to fill out a survey on e-scrap program effectiveness. | Susan Montgomery/Shutterstock
Washington state’s e-scrap program released a report outlining the sentiments of community officials when it comes to collection convenience and more. Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s E-Cycle program awarded a round of grant funding.
A research project funded by the EU will seek establish a knowledge base for recycling and other secondary sources of precious metals. | nikkytok/Shutterstock
European Union officials are embarking on research to collect more palladium, lithium and other materials from the waste stream.
Reverse logistics efforts from OEMs could prove to be a strong force in the circular economy. | Screenshot of Intel Vision 2022 session
Large OEMs can lead the way to a circular economy if they work together and prioritize reverse logistics, panelists at Intel’s Vision 2022 conference said.
Legislators in South Carolina have sent a bill to the governor reforming the state’s electronics EPR program. | Jon Bilous/Shutterstock
A bill that eliminates weight targets for electronics collection in favor of giving consumers easy access to drop-off sites has passed the House and Senate in South Carolina. It now goes to the governor’s desk.
Environmental group Savannah Riverkeeper is opposing a planned Aurubis smelter over air pollution concerns. | Soyan Yotov/Shutterstock
A large copper smelter slated to be built in Georgia has run into resistance from a local group, even as a judge signed off on millions in bond authority for the construction.
The E-Cycle Washington program reported that 93% of the materials collected in 2021 were recycled. | Huguette Roe/Shutterstock
Seven processors handled electronics under E-Cycle Washington’s program in 2021, sending recovered commodities to downstreams all around the globe.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year provides about $350 million to the U.S. EPA over several years to fund recycling infrastructure and education grants. | RozenskiP/Shutterstock
The U.S. EPA is working to build several grant programs from the ground up thanks to an influx of money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and it is reaching out to stakeholders to make sure the education, recycling infrastructure and battery programs will meet industry needs.
A newly developed reputation ranking system of select ITAD firms used six criteria to award stars, all based on customer feedback. | UnderhilStudio/Shutterstock
All Green Electronics Recycling, Cascade Asset Management and ERI scored the top three spots on a recent ITAD vendor reputation rating by Compliance Standards.