An initiative in Europe will work to overcome obstacles to the closed-loop recycling of plastics from electronics and appliances.
An initiative funded by the federal government could help solve a key materials recovery issue in e-scrap.
Chinese authorities say the country will prohibit some grades of recovered plastic and other materials from being imported by the end of 2017. Although the announcement doesn’t list e-scrap materials specifically, one trade group anticipates more materials will be restricted in the future.
A smuggling crackdown in China is causing headaches for U.S. companies that recycle plastics recovered from electronics.
Dell says it has consumed 50 million pounds of post-consumer plastics, including millions of pounds of resin from recovered electronics.
Dell has more than doubled its annual usage of e-plastics collected through its supply chain since beginning the effort two years ago, according to the electronics manufacturer’s 2017 corporate responsibility report.
Computer giant Dell says it is closing in on its goal of collecting 2 billion pounds of used electronics by 2020.
A manufacturer has been recognized for its process that uses 100 percent post-consumer plastics from e-scrap, as well as packaging and textiles, sourced from recycling companies across the U.S.
A lab operated by tech giant IBM has developed a one-step method for recycling polycarbonate electronic items into high-performance engineering plastics.
