It’s been 15 years since California’s e-scrap program was launched, and those years have brought significant changes to the end-of-life device stream. Now, administrators of the country’s first state program have adopted a vision for the future.
It’s been 15 years since California’s e-scrap program was launched, and those years have brought significant changes to the end-of-life device stream. Now, administrators of the country’s first state program have adopted a vision for the future.
Missouri regulators plan to delete nearly all regulations under the state’s electronics recycling program, but on-the-ground impacts may be limited.
California regulators are accusing e-scrap processor Metech Recycling of violating hazardous waste management laws. In separate news, the state recently settled a lamp recycling case with AERC Recycling Solutions, which also handles scrap electronics.
China supplies components for a lot of equipment used in the U.S. recycling industry, meaning tariffs on Chinese imports would be felt across many recycling sectors, according to an industry association.
A Feb. 2, 2018 drone view of a site dubbed “dioxin factory,” where imported e-scrap is processed and circuit boards and wires are burned in a smelter.
A police raid at a massive e-scrap facility in Thailand prompted Seattle-based Basel Action Network to release results of its own investigations in the Southeast Asian country.
With the U.S. e-scrap industry continuing to rely on the export market, companies are not only contending with domestic laws and certification requirements – they’re navigating a wide range of complex and unique international laws as well.
A computer tower with a tracking device provided by the Green Tracking Service (device at lower right).
A U.S. company has begun providing an e-scrap tracking service so processors and OEMs can see where their downstream vendors are sending devices. One processor is already regularly using the service.
Minnesota’s state program has released data on its first full year since legislation significantly altered the program. Although manufacturer recycling obligations are up, the volume of material recycled has fallen.
Three companies have changed language in their product warranties that discouraged independent repairs after regulators said they may be running afoul of federal law.
The processing line at Proambi’s facility in Mexico, photo courtesy of Salvador Río
Mexico may be America’s neighbor to the south, but in some ways, the e-scrap ecosystems in the two nations are worlds apart. And perhaps the biggest difference is the fact that in Mexico, an informal system of electronics collection and processing is well-established.