In Olympia, Wash., right-to-repair proponents and opponents testified during a Jan. 21 hearing in front of the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee. | jfergusonphotos/Shutterstock
Electronics repair stakeholders clashed over right-to-repair legislation in Washington state this week, as a number of state legislatures begin taking up similar bills.
U.S. smart speaker brand Sonos made recycling-related waves recently. | Vantage_DS/Shutterstock
From tiny startups to one of the world’s most valuable companies, electronics manufacturers have made reuse- and recycling-related headlines in recent weeks. The following is a handful of notable developments.
Since the program launched in April, it has refurbished 34,000 devices for resale back into the domestic market. | Courtesy of Skullcandy.
A manufacturer and a California processor are working together to process returned audio equipment for reuse and recycling.
Several significant announcements have come from Clover Technologies Group in recent weeks. | matkub2499/Shutterstock
Clover Technologies Group will sell its used printer cartridge remanufacturing business before filing for bankruptcy to restructure its debt.
Michael Collins, CEO of eCycle Solutions
One of Canada’s largest commodities-focused processors, eCycle Solutions, says a recent business acquisition will allow it to quickly expand ITAD services across the country.
Apple stated it does not act to “block” customers from choosing non-Apple-authorized repair shops. | Goran Bogicevic/Shutterstock
Apple, which is often criticized for adopting policies hampering independent repair, recently responded to questions from Congress on right-to-repair and other topics.
Cedric Carter (left) speaks during a session at the 2019 E-Reuse Conference. Rike Sandlin (center) and Bob McCarthy look on. | Dan Leif/Resource Recycling, Inc.
In sessions at last week’s E-Reuse Conference in Texas, a number of industry veterans detailed concepts that can help e-scrap and ITAD companies run leaner, more profitable plants.
Alex Cummings and Arun Karottu of ITAD firm SMR Worldwide. | Photos courtesy SMR Worldwide
With low values for e-scrap commodities, component harvesting can be a strategy for generating more revenue for both the client and processor. It’s a strategy our company, SMR Worldwide, uses when possible, as we have the ability to process a far broader variety of IT assets at a wider range of life cycle stages compared with competitors (SMR processes assets across 250-plus product categories, including 27,000-plus unique SKUs) in our SmartERP client portal.
Clover Wireless processes over 7 million devices annually. | Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock
Clover Wireless, which operates the largest mobile device repair center in North America, has acquired used device trading platform MaxBack.
Right-to-repair legislation is advancing in Massachusetts. | zack2701/Shutterstock
Numerous repair stakeholders spoke at a lengthy hearing last week in Massachusetts, where lawmakers are considering legislation that requires manufacturers to provide repair resources to independent shops.