Opinions on potentially restricting e-scrap exports varied, with some arguing such a move would hinder sales and others arguing it would bolster domestic job creation. | Katherine Welles/Shutterstock
In a wide-ranging hearing on electronics recycling and reuse, several U.S. senators heard discussion about how export restrictions affect U.S. industry. Continue Reading
LCD tubes recovered from 5R’s Ladysmith, Wisc. facility. | Courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
At his current rate, the former CEO of 5R Processors will fully pay off his $2 million in court-ordered e-scrap abandonment restitution in roughly 1,200 years. Knowing that, Wisconsin lawmakers just approved allocating another $2 million in public funds to clean up the mess. Continue Reading
The bill in Oregon will greatly expand the list of covered items, bringing VCRs and other products into the fold. | Charles Knowles/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
Oregon lawmakers passed – and the governor signed – legislation that will add devices to the state’s electronics recycling program and also alter the framework through which manufacturers fulfill their collection obligations. Continue Reading
The federal agency is chiefly concerned with the batteries’ propensity for starting fires. | Allyson Kitts/Shutterstock
The U.S. EPA recently clarified that lithium-ion batteries should be treated as hazardous waste, but did not yet change current recycling rules and regulations. Continue Reading
The CEO of Pennsylvania-based eLoop attributes the buildup of CRTs to a narrowing downstream and pandemic-related challenges. | Dongseun Yang/Shutterstock
Pandemic-era business conditions and the closure of a CRT outlet contributed to eLoop violating CRT accumulation rules last year, the CEO said. Now, the processor and regulators are working out a mandatory plan to clear out the stockpile. Continue Reading
Legislators in the Gopher State have taken language from two right-to-repair bills and inserted it into the state’s budget. | Anton Starikov/Shutterstock
By incorporating language from previous bills into its budget, Minnesota has now become the second state in the nation to enact a right to repair digital devices. Continue Reading
Some aspects of the state’s e-waste law require clarification, but California officials expect a significant expansion of covered items.| Africa Studio/Shutterstock
In the future, e-scrap processors in California could receive state money to recycle electric toothbrushes, electronic greeting cards, toys and a host of other items with embedded batteries, state regulators recently suggested. Continue Reading
A patent dispute over screens may have wider implications for both consumers and the electronics repair industry. | Leszek Kobusinski/Shutterstock
A complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission by one of the world’s biggest smartphone companies seeks to halt imports of some aftermarket screens into the U.S., threatening the supply of parts to independent repair shops. Continue Reading
Hong Kong courts convicted seven importers of illegally bringing in e-scrap from several countries. The U.S. was on the list of exporting countries.
E-scrap materials, including CRT glass, sit abandoned in rural Wyoming, with the site’s former owner in prison and regulatory agencies still working to determine who should handle a cleanup.