More than 134,000 jobs in the U.S. are in some way supported by recycled commodities exports, according to a new analysis.
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More than 134,000 jobs in the U.S. are in some way supported by recycled commodities exports, according to a new analysis.
Photo by Bao lab, via Stanford University
Researchers have developed a biodegradable polymer for electronics, which could complicate e-scrap recycling if it were ever adopted for widespread use.
C2 Management of Berryville, Va.; DataShield Corporation of Omaha, Neb.; Diablo Paper Shredding of Walnut Creek, Calif.; Off-Site Records Management of San Jose, Calif. and Williams Data Management of Los Angeles have either achieved or renewed their NAID certifications for physical destruction of hard drives.
Also, ERI of Plainfield, Ind. has renewed its NAID certifications for hard drive sanitization and physical destruction of hard drives.
Visit our archive to view previous editions of the scorecard.
A U.K. businessman has been sent to jail for exporting e-scrap to Africa.
Joe Benson, an Essex-based e-scrap processor and CEO of BJ Electronics, was sentenced to serve 16 months in jail following an investigation by the Environment Agency (EA).
Between September 2012 and April 2013, EA intercepted four containers headed for several African countries including Ghana and the Ivory Coast. The containers were said to contain about 50 tons of scrap electronics and electrical equipment collected through municipal collection programs in and around London. According to EA, they had not been properly tested beforehand to verify whether they needed to be responsibly recycled or could be reused.
According to electronics reuse advocate and founder of of the World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association (WR3A), Robin Ingenthron, much of the electronics in the intercepted containers were in working condition, and he claims to have over 200 documents individually itemizing reuse-ready items in various containers sent by Benson over the years.
Ingenthron, who has been referring to the scrap processor as “Hurricane” Joe Benson (in reference to the boxer “Hurricane” Ruben Carter, who was wrongly imprisoned and the inspiration of a famed Bob Dylan protest song), says that an earlier study also pointed out that Benson, in fact, has been shipping highly reusable material.
“An UNEP study found a 91 percent reuse rate from the televisions from Joe Benson’s containers — a number actually higher than brand new products sold in Ghana and Nigeria,” Ingenthron said.
“‘Hurricane’ Joe Benson’s loads are completely documented and researched, and we believe he is becoming a cause célèbre of reuse,” Ingenthron added.
Before pleading guilty to the new charges, Benson had been vigorously fighting a separate 2011 conviction alleging he had illegally shipped e-scrap to Nigeria.
To meet growing demand, e-scrap recycling company Hugo Neu Recycling will close its facility in Mount Vernon, New York and open a larger, more advanced one in New Jersey, the company says.
Legislation to update Pennsylvania’s struggling e-scrap program has been introduced to the state’s General Assembly.
An industry coalition that pushed for a national ban on sending e-scrap abroad is now looking for legislators to introduce a bill to Congress that would focus on the dangers of counterfeit material.
Legislation in play in New Jersey would provoke an overhaul of the state’s e-scrap program and offer an easing of state requirements for mobile hard drive shredding.
The Basel Action Network has announced support for a pair of initiatives that would pave the way for more exports of reusable electronics.
California’s e-waste recycling program has reached a new milestone: Since the legislation establishing the program became law six years ago, it has recycled its 1 billionth pound of obsolete electronics.