Consumers received $1.34 billion from mobile trade-ins in Q2 2025, a 60% jump on the year, as device ages hit a record 3.88 years and AI-capable phones spur upgrade interest. | Karen Poghosyan1/Shutterstock
Assurant’s latest quarterly snapshot of the secondary smartphone market shows a record haul for consumers and a steady rise in device age, suggesting upgrade timing is being shaped by a mix of richer mobile provider promotions and emerging interest in on-device AI.
Pulse Supply Chain Solutions has opened a 15,000-square-foot facility in Dallas for device repair and recovery, expanding services and boosting certified reuse capacity. | Pulse Supply Chain Solutions
Texas-based Pulse Supply Chain Solutions has opened a new facility in its home state, expanding the company’s footprint and capabilities in electronics reuse. Continue Reading
Iron Mountain posted record Q2 revenue and raised its 2025 outlook, driven by growth in digital services, data centers, and asset lifecycle management, with strong global momentum. | Photo Courtesy of Iron Mountain
Iron Mountain reported a sharp jump in asset lifecycle management (ALM) revenue in the second quarter, helping drive record results and a full-year forecast raise as demand grows for secure IT asset disposition and data center decommissioning services. Continue Reading
Bloom ESG predicted that in the near future a new generation of environmental certificates, called carbon insets, will become a revenue stream for recyclers. | Chayanuphol/Shutterstock
In the near future, ITAD and e-scrap recyclers should expect industry consolidation and the rise of a new kind of environmental certificate that could create revenue streams for recyclers, advisory firm Bloom ESG predicted in a new white paper. Continue Reading
The Mamba Board line features composite boards made from recycled e-plastics. | Courtesy of RePolyTex
E-plastics processor Synergy Electronics Recycling and its subsidiary, RePolyTex, have expanded their product line of composite boards made with recycled e-plastics and recently earned recognition from the Carolina Recycling Association. Continue Reading
Smartphones and laptops are exempt from U.S. tariffs targeting Chinese imports, but other goods are currently subject to 145% in duties. | Metamorworks/Shutterstock
Country-specific reciprocal tariffs have been pushed out until July, but a universal base rate tariff rolled out last week, which covers all countries, and earlier metals tariffs remain in effect. Meanwhile, an all-out trade war between the U.S. and China is intensifying. Continue Reading
Although on-again, off-again tariffs may exclude resin shipments, market players are seeing no shortage of confusion and consternation. | Avigator Thailand/Shutterstock
After many weeks of shifting narratives and uncertainty, participants in recycled polymer markets are working to navigate a constantly shifting tariff environment, in which buyers and sellers as well as customs officials struggle to align federal mandates with on-the-ground implementation. Continue Reading
Recovered material imports, like the 1 million tons of recovered fiber the U.S. brought in from Canada last year, appear to be tariff-exempt under a new executive order. | John New/Shutterstock
The U.S. tariff whirlwind continues this month: Many imports from Canada and Mexico, including those of recycled materials, had their tariffs suspended two days after they took effect last week, while previously announced tariffs on aluminum and steel from all countries took effect Wednesday.
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The tariffs threaten to raise costs to import end-of-life batteries, circuit boards and mixed e-scrap from Canada and Mexico. | priscilla list/Shutterstock
March 7 update: Some of the new tariffs on imports from both Mexico and Canada were paused following executive orders President Donald Trump signed on March 6. The orders exempt goods that enter the U.S. under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which would appear to exempt recycled materials, but it’s not entirely clear. Canada’s first round of retaliatory tariffs appears to remain in effect.
The Recycled Materials Association warned of potential “severe” disruption to the materials recovery sector after tariffs targeting the U.S.’s largest trading partners took effect this week. Some tariffs on Mexican imports were paused for another month on March 6. Meanwhile, Canada’s proposed response includes tariffs on U.S. exports of recycled materials. Continue Reading
Data center decommissioning, ESG adherence and regulatory compliance are among the trends driving one analyst’s positive outlook for 2025. | Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock
The U.S. IT asset disposition and electronics recycling industries struggled to sustain growth in 2023 because of a dormant market, dominated by lack of demand for used equipment and parts, and hesitation from companies that have refrained from relinquishing their aging assets. Asset procurement on the upstream side and trading in the downstream sector were weak, and as a result, prices fell substantially. Continue Reading