The Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER) has brought on its 100th member.
New Jersey-based firm AnythingIT announced recently it had joined the business alliance, bringing membership levels at two-year-old CAER to a notable threshold as the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act legislation that helped spawn it has again been introduced in Congress.
CAER formed in 2011 when a number of e-scrap companies banded together to show their support for Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (RERA), a piece of national legislation that aims to significantly limit export of nonfunctional electronics to developing countries. The first iteration of the bill failed to move out of committee, but it was resubmitted to legislators this July.
Despite overlapping memberships and similar issues of importance, CAER and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) have found themselves at loggerheads over RERA. ISRI has lobbied against its passage, arguing that the legislation is not consistent with U.S. and international trade laws, and furthermore, that responsible processing of electronics is facility-specific, not country-specific.
In discussing the decision to join CAER, representatives from AnythingIT, which has its headquarters in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and a second facility in Tampa, Florida, focused on the economic impacts of limiting exports.
“We support CAER’s belief that electronics recycling should be performed securely and sustainably, for the benefit of the American economy,” said AnythingIT CEO David Bernstein. “Joining CAER demonstrates our commitment to growing an American industry in correctly managing e-waste generated within our borders, creating good jobs and expanded trade.”
According to the CAER website, members of the group are not required to provide financial support.
