Industry Announcements

May 2018

The Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER), which backs a bill restricting U.S. exports of e-scrap, testified to the U.S. Trade Representative that such limits should be a key talking point in negotiations with China over trade.

CT Cellutions (CTC) has reached a non-binding agreement in principle to merge with Mobile Capital Management (MCM).  

CyberCrunch has partnered with the Delaware County, Pa. district attorney to provide residents free physical data destruction services during a June 2 event.

Registration is now open for the Electronics Reuse Conference, which will be held Oct. 29-31 in Nashville, Tenn.

ERI‘s director of OEM, sustainability and legislative affairs, David Hirschler, discussed effective partnerships in the age of digital security threats as part of a panel discussion at the Cyber Investing Summit in New York City.

Green Electronics Council (GEC), the organization that manages the EPEAT sustainable electronics label, announced its 2018 EPEAT Purchaser Award winners.

Call2Recycle has launched its Avoid The Spark battery safety campaign in California, citing growing popularity of consumer electronics and the rechargeable batteries they rely on.

Waste-to-energy company Covanta helped to collect roughly 7,700 pounds of material during an e-scrap event in New York City.

Nonprofit e-scrap processor RecycleForce partnered with Indiana-based company Cook Group to put on a Bloomington, Ind. collection event, which netted nearly 254,000 pounds.

EQM Indexes has launched its Battery Metals and Mining Index, which tracks companies involved in producing and recycling metals used in batteries in electronics, electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

St. Petersburg, Fla.-based iQor, which is involved in electronics repair and recycling, has joined the Reverse Logistics & Service Quality (RLSQ) Leadership Council of CTIA, a trade organization that represents the U.S. wireless communications industry.

National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) will merge with Professional Records and Information Services Management (PRISM International) to form a new industry trade association called International Secure Information Governance & Management Association (i-SIGMA).

ERI hosted a delegation of government officials and business leaders from Sri Lanka as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Special American Internship Training Program.

FutureDial, a mobile device processing company for wireless carriers, trade-in companies and third-party logistics providers, announced that its Lean One-Touch data clearing platform has received Asset Disposal & Information Security Alliance (ADISA) certification.

International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates smartphone shipments declined 2.9 percent year-over-year during the first quarter of 2018.

Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI) will increase R2 license fees by 33 percent for standard licenses, 25 percent for nonprofit licenses and 33 percent for companies operating multiple facilities. The change will be reflected on invoices going out on or after July 1. SERI also released a new code of practices advisory on subdivided buildings.

April 2018

Call2Recycle has launched a campaign aiming to increase battery recycling by combatting “battery hoarding.” The organization referenced a recent study that found 21 percent of Americans hold onto used single-use batteries in part because they don’t know where to recycle them.

Staples has expanded its electronics recycling program and now accepts single-serve and traditional coffee makers at its retail stores. There is no charge to consumers dropping off the items.

Research companies Gartner and the International Data Corporation (IDC) have released their latest figures on global PC shipments. Gartner reported shipments declined by 1.4 percent year-over-year during the first quarter of 2018; IDC found that shipments were virtually flat year-over-year.

SAMR, a New Jersey e-scrap company, has upgraded its facility and increased its processing capacity.

Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS) was presented with a Toastmasters Corporate Recognition Award to celebrate the company’s 100-year anniversary.

Virgin Mobile USA has announced its support for the 1Million Project, which provides free mobile devices and high-speed wireless connectivity to high school students who don’t have reliable internet access at home.

Dallas Gold and Silver Exchange (DGSE), a jewelry and bullion company, has launched a phone exchange and recycling program.

E-Cycle Washington, the state’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) program, has reported first-quarter 2018 collection weights of 5.7 million pounds, 74.5 percent of the weight collected during the same period a year earlier.

Repair hub iFixit has assigned the Apple iPad 6 a repairability score of 2/10, noting the device makes heavy use of adhesive, complicating disassembly; however, the review found the glass over the LCD offers protection that makes drop-damage repairs less expensive.

March 2018

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has created a “Century Club” for longtime recycling industry members who are retired or semi-retired but would like to remain involved with the industry. ISRI also released its 2018 advocacy agenda, laying out the organization’s areas of focus for lobbying.

At the recent International Electronics Recycling Congress in Salzburg, Austria, Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS) President Steve Skurnac participated in a roundtable discussion about which stakeholders will benefit from increased e-scrap volumes.

Sunnking has published a list of electronics-focused spring cleaning tips, including advice on recycling CRTs and other devices.

Wistron GreenTech has signed an agreement with Perago Contract Specialists for recycling of electronics generated by federal agencies.

Dynamic Recycling’s CEO, Miles Harter, and president, Curt Greeno, received a Wisconsin Small Business Persons of the Year award and will be honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) board has voted to merge with Professional Records & Information Services Management (PRISM) International, a trade association for the commercial information management industry. NAID members will be asked to ratify the merger in an upcoming electronic vote.

CyberCrunch will donate refurbished laptops to seniors, students and other people in need in Westmoreland County, Pa.

Dynamic Recycling received an “outstanding achievement in recycling” award from the Associated Recyclers of Wisconsin.

The E-Cycle Washington program released its monthly collection report, showing February 2018 collections were 80.6 percent of the weight collected during the same month a year earlier.

Emerging Technologies in Occupational Health and the Environment (ÉCOLE) will put on a one-day workshop at Louisiana State University covering global e-scrap movements, chemicals associated with scrap electronics, health hazards and more.

ERI and data privacy company CSR have offered comments on a U.S. Supreme Court case related to privacy breaches and how it could increase the number of data breach lawsuits.

Fair Trade Recycling founder Robin Ingenthron has launched a fundraiser as part of the E-Waste Offset program, which collects e-scrap from localities in Africa and ships it to Spain for recycling.

Recycled aluminum alloy producers have formed the Aluminum Recyclers Council (ARC), with initial board representation from Continental Aluminum, Custom Alloy Sales, Metal Exchange Corp., Superior Aluminum Alloys, The Sanford Organization and Spectro Alloys Corp.

American Manganese, a Canadian company developing a lithium-ion battery recycling technology, has signed a contract for roughly 2.3 million Canadian dollars to continue its research and build a pilot processing facility.

Battery stewardship group Call2Recycle Canada has been certified to the R2 electronics recycling standard.

Cascade Asset Management on April 11 will hold an open house at the company’s recently expanded Indianapolis processing facility.

EnviroLeach Technologies, which developed a environmentally friendly alternative to traditional leaching processes for extracting precious metals from e-scrap, was selected as one of four finalists for #DisruptMining 2018.

The e-Stewards Leadership Council has appointed a new member: Brooks Hoffman, who works for Iron Mountain’s Secure eWaste and IT Asset Disposition (SITAD) service.

Esticast Research and Consulting predicts the lithium-ion battery recycling market will experience a compound annual growth rate of 30.5 percent from 2018 to 2025.

Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI) has released an addendum to the R2 Guidance Document to answer common questions about R2’s application to mobile phone refurbishment and reuse.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries has published a year-end report on scrap industry developments in 2017.

The International Data Corporation released its findings that global smartphone shipments declined by 0.5 percent in 2017, the first decline since the devices came on the market, and global shipments of PCs declined 2.7 percent.

The ReVolv Project will hold a public demonstration of the Votechnik ALR 3000 mechanical LCD separation equipment at a metals recycling facility in Kilbeggan, Ireland.