Three companies have changed language in their product warranties that discouraged independent repairs after regulators said they may be running afoul of federal law.
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.
The U.S. EPA solid waste chief during the Obama Administration is now helping to push forward circular economy principles, and some of his work could help reshape electronics recovery in developing areas of the world.
Shuttered CRT processor Nulife Glass continues to wade through a lengthy and costly cleanup of its East Coast operations.
Customs officers in China’s port city of Xiamen seized a load of end-of-life electronics last month, claiming the material didn’t meet e-scrap import standards.
A recently released state program report provides insights into the changing composition of end-of-life electronics. It also shows which processors gained and lost weight allocations last year.
Authorities recently handed down several penalties for improper management of scrap electronics.
Budget shortfalls are a reality for state programs nationwide, and in Maryland, the strain is increasingly being felt at the county level.
Total Reclaim was fined by state regulators for storing flat-panel display devices in trailers on Seattle’s Harbor Island.
No longer receiving material from state electronics recycling programs in Washington and Oregon, processor Total Reclaim is attempting to weather recent regulatory hurdles and set its sights on future growth.
Credit: Eric Dykstra
Changes in the end-of-life stream are prompting the oldest state electronics recycling program in the country to rethink its processor payment system.