Industry Announcements

October 2019

Blancco published a white paper examining the advantages and disadvantages of cryptographic data erasure.

ITAD firm Horizon Technology, which focuses on data center decommissioning, discussed data security in an interview with the CEO of standards body Asset Disposal and Information Security Alliance (ADISA). 

Metro Metals Northwest acquired Simon Metals, a metals and e-scrap firm with facilities in Tacoma, Wash. and Vancouver, Wash.

Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Resource Recycling, Plastics Recycling Update and E-Scrap News, created an FAQ page for people interested in submitting press releases and op-eds for publication.

Reverse logistics firm Re-Teck is participating in this week’s GITEX Technology Week event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Amazon Australia is now selling refurbished consumer electronics as part of its Renewed program. 

Battery stewardship group Call2Recycle signed on as an e-Stewards Enterprise Partner.  

Repair hub iFixit released teardowns for the iPad 7, Nintendo Switch Lite, iPhone 11 Pro Max and Fairphone 3 in September.  

ITAD and e-scrap software company Makor Solutions announced plans to grow internationally, starting with a location in Israel.

September 2019

With 2018 revenue of $6.5 million and three-year revenue growth of 80%, ExIT Technologies was named by Inc. magazine as one of the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. 

The Google Store began selling refurbished devices, with Pixelbooks and Google Wifi 3-Pack devices as the first offerings in this category.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) released a 2019 study on the economic impacts of recycling.

Stellar announced eraser and diagnostic BitRaser products for hard drives and mobile devices aimed at boosting ITAD companies’ efficiency. They are being showcased at the 2019 E-Scrap Conference and Trade Show. 

Waste Kings announced the company is now providing e-scrap collections in Austin, Texas.

Refurbished device marketplace Back Market announced all the products sold on its platform will come with a minimum one-year warranty.

Compliance Standards published a podcast featuring analyst David Daoud interviewing Neil Peters-Michaud, CEO of ITAD firm Cascade Asset Management.

The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) launched a new website.

Total Reclaim appointed Bobby Farris as CEO. The Seattle-based company was previously run by owners Craig Lorch and Jeff Zirkle, who were sentenced to more than two years in prison for crimes related to export of LCD devices to Hong Kong.

All Green Recycling (AGR) was named to the B Lab’s Best for Environment list, which recognizes companies for their positive environmental impacts. 

The e-Stewards certification program announced that its +IMPACT program, which was announced last week, will be renamed to ADVANCE+.

Phobio announced that its SafeTrade trade-in platform has been selected by SaskTel, a communications and technology provider in Saskatchewan.

Vecoplan broke ground on a plant that will manufacture shredding trucks for the information destruction industry.

Dutch social enterprise Fairphone launched the Fairphone 3, its latest modular phone designed for repair and component upgrades. 

Geomega raised 1.2 million Canadian dollars (about $900,000 USD) to build a demonstration plant in Quebec to recycle rare earth elements from magnets.  

Infinite Electronics Recycling of Weirton, W.Va. joined The Electronics Reuse & Recycling Alliance (TERRA) and its mail-in recycling program Done with IT. 

ITAD and e-scrap software provider Makor Solutions released an integration of Makor ERP with ServiceNow’s cloud platform, announcing S3 Recycling Solutions as the first company to fully implement the integration. 

Metrofuser, a provider of remanufactured printers and printer parts, landed on NJBIZ Magazine’s list of the top 250 privately held companies. 

TCO Development announced it is creating new criteria for a sustainability certification for network equipment, data storage products and servers. 

The U.S. EPA announced the recipients of the Federal Green Challenge Awards, including federal agencies recognized for recycling electronics. 

August 2019

i-SIGMA, parent organization for the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) certification program, will use new software to track state legislation impacting data protection.

Ingram Micro’s ITAD division announced that its Client Portal application, which provides clients with a range of information related to their retired assets, has been certified to the ServiceNow Store, an app platform.

With 2018 revenue of $22 million and three-year revenue growth of 56%, Liquid Technology was named by Inc. magazine as one of the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.

A majority interest of Shred-Tech was acquired by Heico, a holding company.

U.K. firm Computacenter bought back its ITAD business from Arrow Electronics, which recently exited the ITAD sector. Arrow had previously acquired Computacenter’s ITAD division.

ERI and the New York City Department of Sanitation announced that their curbside electronics recycling program has collected 1,700 tons and now serves more than 2.5 million residents.

The Green Electronics Council (GEC) implemented a new product category in its Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), covering photovoltaic modules and inverters.

ITAD firm Liquid Technology published the results of a survey highlighting customer responses to recent technology tariffs.

Chemical giant Dow was awarded for producing a silicone gel that can be used in smartphone production. The gel improves repairability and eases disassembly for recycling.

Google committed to include recycled materials in 100% of its Made by Google products, starting in 2022.

ITAD firm Wisetek Solutions will partner with Samsung and the Washington, D.C. Library System to hold monthly e-scrap collection events throughout the year.

Seattle ITAD firm 3R Technology hired Mark Hazel as the company president. Hazel previously held a position at Iron Mountain.

Gannon & Scott hired George Lucas as the company’s vice president of sales and business development. Lucas comes to the company from precious metals recycling firm 366 International.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources published figures on its e-scrap program performance.

July 2019

The Basel Action Network (BAN) called on the Canadian government to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment, which would enact restrictions on developed countries exporting certain waste materials to developing countries. 

Cascade Asset Management received a five-year extension on its ITAD contract with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

The city of Pittsburgh launched a twice-weekly drop-off electronics recycling program.

U.K. tech company SocialBox.Biz launched an IT asset donation program.

Best Buy has recycled 2 billion pounds of e-scrap and appliances since launching the company’s recycling efforts in 2009. Meanwhile, the company’s Geek Squad repair service repaired nearly 5 million devices during the 2019 fiscal year.

Closing the Loop, a business providing an e-scrap “offset” program, announced that Samsung has adopted the offset model.

Gartner reported that worldwide PC shipments grew by 1.5% in the second quarter of 2019, compared with the same quarter in 2018. 

i-SIGMA, parent organization for the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) certification program, named Tom Schreyer of Illinois Affordable Shred as i-SIGMA’s Communications and Marketing Committee chair.

Motorola and iFixit expanded their replacement parts supply partnership to Europe.

Sony signed the America Recycles Pledge, committing to work with the EPA and others to explore ways of improving materials recovery and reutilization.

Oregon E-Cycles, the state’s extended producer responsibility program for electronics, announced it has recycled 250 million pounds of e-scrap during its 10 years in operation.

Padnos acquired Regal Recycling, which operates two locations in Michigan.

Recycle My Cell, a mobile phone recycling program run by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The WEEE Forum will hold the second International E-Waste Day on Oct. 14.