Industry Announcements

August 2019

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.

June 2019

The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) this week will end a six-month transition period for implementing its Computer and Displays (2018) product category, meaning certain products will no longer be considered “registered” under the EPEAT standard.

ERI published a video showing the company’s SAM and ERNIE robotic sorting systems in action. E-Scrap News wrote about the robots earlier this year.

UN Environment and multiple partners announced a $15 million project to improve electronics recycling in Nigeria.

UWin Nanotech, a Chinese-Taiwanese recycling company, launched a hydrometallurgical e-scrap processing line in Tokyo.

Greentec CEO Tony Perrotta was appointed to the board of directors at i-SIGMA, which guides the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) certification program.

Schupan & Sons hired Michael Anderson as vice president of the company’s materials trading division, which is based in Chicago. Anderson previously worked in a variety of positions at aluminum company Novelis.

WEEE Forum, which represents e-scrap producer responsibility organizations around the world, named Philip Morton its global ambassador. Morton was formerly president of the group.

Blancco Technology Group launched a mobile diagnostic software product that allows e-scrap and ITAD firms to quickly process large numbers of iOS devices.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on June 4 signed a bill, submitted at the request of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), making numerous tweaks to the Oregon E-Cycles program.

Battery recycling firm Envirostream formed a partnership with LG Chem to process the manufacturer’s end-of-life batteries in Australia.

The International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers wrote about different ways to safely dispose of devices containing sensitive information.

Sims Recycling Solutions published a white paper about providing ITAD services for data centers.

Walter Alcorn, who serves as vice president for environmental affairs and industry sustainability at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), is running for county supervisor in Fairfax County, Va. During the June 11 primary election, he handily won the race to be the Democratic candidate in the county.

ITAD company AnythingIT announced it will provide device resale, data destruction and recycling services to customers migrating to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The Global E-waste Statistics Partnership, a group looking to improve e-scrap data collection and reporting, launched an open-source data website called globalewaste.org.

OCD Moving Services, a San Francisco Bay Area commercial moving company, published tips for companies looking to recycle end-of-life electronics during a move.

A port in the Philippines will return illegally imported e-scrap to its source, Hong Kong.

May 2019

The Green Electronics Council (GEC) recognized 59 winners of the 2019 EPEAT Purchaser Awards on May 22 in Portland, Ore. Also, GEC, in partnership with NSF International, is launching a process to develop a single set of common corporate environmental and social criteria applicable to all EPEAT product categories. It has released a call for participation in the process.

Vizio signed on as an e-Stewards Enterprise company. Additionally, Vizio’s Caitlin Sanchez has been elected to the e-Stewards Leadership Council.

Advanced Technology Recycling (ATR) received a five-year contract to provide electronics recycling and data destruction services to public agencies in Utah.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) opened its Superfund Recycling Equity Act (SREA) Reasonable Care Compliance Program to nonmembers. The program helps recycling companies navigate Superfund law.

International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers (IAITAM) announced that its annual conference this week in San Diego is focusing on proper disposal of electronics containing sensitive data.

I-SIGMA Director of Certification Programs Katie Mahoney, who oversees the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) certification program, is leaving the group to raise her young son. Jeffrey White has been hired to fill her position.

Other World Computing (OWC) joined The Repair Association as a corporate member.

Leaders at ERI, EPC and the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) were quoted in a Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) about how Europe’s data protection laws affect U.S. processors.

Sioux Falls, S.C. company Millenium Recycling, which spun off the electronics processor Secure Enterprise Asset Management, is celebrating 20 years in business.

ServerMonkey, a technology company that provides ITAD services, announced it is a sponsor of the International Association of IT Asset Managers Annual Conference & Exhibition (IAITAM ACE) 2019.

APT Systems, a financial technology company, will acquire The Refining Company, a platform that facilitates e-scrap trading for individuals and companies.

Processor e-End hosted a delegation of Sri Lankan environmental professionals looking to learn about e-scrap processing in the U.S.

Ingram Micro ITAD integrated its BlueIQ asset tracking system with an IT management system developed by Eracent.

ITAD firm Christie Technology Corporation received the Major League Baseball (MLB) Jackie Robinson Most Valuable Diverse Business Partner Award.

Cobalt will provide secure disposal for electronic logging devices used by shipping company Trimble Transportation. The ITAD company noted that it will recycle components when possible.

CompuCycle released a video of the company’s new shredding and separation line.

The E-Reuse Network created an online video offering details on the organization’s platform.  

Securepairs.org formed as an organization to provide testimony in support of right-to-repair legislation.