Copper, a key non-ferrous metal recovered from scrap electronics, has generally been climbing in value since March 2020. | kilukilu/Shutterstock
After reaching an eight-year record last year, the price of copper has continued to increase, reaching its highest level in nearly a decade.
Sims’ drive into the cloud was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic last year. | Maximumm/Shutterstock
Sims Lifecycle Services enjoyed a year-over-year profit boost in the latter half of 2020, although COVID-19 slowed the company’s push to recycle materials associated with cloud computing.
Aqua Metals, a lead-acid battery technology company, is moving into the lithium-ion battery recycling business. | showcake/Shutterstock
A battery recycling company goes public, North American collection numbers are released, and a lead-acid battery technology company moves into the lithium-ion realm. Those announcements were made around National Battery Day today.
European metals refining company Boliden consumed its lowest quantity of scrap circuit boards in nearly a decade last year. | haraldmuc/Shutterstock
For major e-scrap smelting companies, the turbulence of 2020 brought pandemic-driven supply disruptions as well as pricing spikes for key metals.
Silver is a key metal for e-scrap recovery firms. | Arkadiusz Komski/Shutterstock
Silver prices increased sharply over the past week, and financial analysts anticipate they will remain elevated in the near future.
Some analysts predict copper prices will increase close to their 2011 record, when the metal was trading for more than $4.50 per pound. | Syafiq Adnan/Shutterstock
Prices for a major metal found in the electronics recycling stream have climbed high in recent weeks, largely driven by China’s economic recovery following its COVID-19 lockdown.
The Rochester, N.Y. plant will be able to process up to 5,000 metric tons of spent lithium-ion batteries per year. | Parilov/Shutterstock
A lithium-ion battery recycling plant has come on-line in upstate New York.
The e-scrap metals market saw a significant impact from the coronavirus pandemic, which made obtaining supply a challenging task. | Amy_VonDe/Shutterstock
Processors were not alone in feeling supply and demand impacts from COVID-19. Their downstream partners were in a similar boat, as three smelting and refining experts explained during a presentation last week.
Oceanside Electronics is projecting to handle about 4 million pounds of electronics over the coming year. | vladdon/Shutterstock
A longtime non-ferrous metals processor has shifted gears and opened his own electronics recycling facility on the east coast of Florida.
Industry group ISRI said that updated import guidelines are an acknowledgement from China that scrap materials are products, not waste. | Maha Heang 245789/Shutterstock
Chinese authorities have published updated standards for imports of recovered brass, copper and aluminum. They’re set to go into effect on Nov. 1.