One morning not too long ago, I began previewing my schedule for the day ahead and remembered that I had an appointment for a root canal. I actually felt a sense of relief that for a few hours I would have a break from the challenges facing our industry. Yes, the size of electronic devices is shrinking rapidly, but per-capita e-scrap generation rates continue to rise. The number of players exiting the business has been far exceeding the number entering.

Flat-panel display processor 3S International has closed its operations in Illinois and Michigan and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with hopes of reorganizing the company.

In a statement sent to E-Scrap News, CEO Joe Yob said bankruptcy will "allow 3S to strategically reposition the company to better meet the current and future needs for the recycling of panel displays and other mercury-containing electronics."

Sage Sustainable Electronics has unveiled what it hopes can be the Kelley Blue Book of the e-scrap industry.

Columbus, Ohio-based Sage announced the public launch of the Sage BlueBook, a website providing estimates of values of e-scrap. The free beta version is the world's largest source of pricing information for used computing devices, according to Sage.

Electronic Recyclers International has teamed up with iFixit to move further into reselling working parts and pieces of devices instead of shredding them.

First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the partnership will see ERI's operations across the country set aside large quantities of tested and working parts for iFixit to resell online alongside its traditional offering of tools and free repair manuals.

An industry group has criticized a recently signed bill modifying the e-scrap law in Illinois, saying the state failed to account for existing recycling outlets for CRT glass.

In a letter sent to the Illinois EPA on July 20, a group consisting of 13 electronics recycling companies, including some of the industry's most prominent, argues House Bill 1455 assumes "CRT glass is not recyclable."

California e-scrap processing firm Arrow Recovery received an approval to build what would be its first metals refining operation.

The company plans to erect two buildings totaling nearly 72,000 square feet in the Los Angeles-area city of Fontana. Arrow Recovery, headquartered in the Bay Area, purchased the property in October 2014, according to county property records.

A bill that's passed through North Carolina's Senate would repeal the state's electronics recycling program.

House Bill 765, which passed North Carolina's Senate by a vote of 31-17 last week and aims to cut a number of regulatory provisions beyond those dealing with e-scrap, now sits in the House Committee for the Environment. The 23-member committee is expected to meet July 21 to discuss the legislation and hear public comment.

Draft regulations would require electronics manufacturers to finance the collection and recycling of e-scrap in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

The province's Environment and Local Government department is seeking public comment on the regulations. New Brunswick, with a population of 754,000 people, would be the last of Canada's Atlantic provinces to implement extended producer responsibility for electronics.

An appeals court has let a long-simmering lawsuit against the Basel Action Network go forward. In a decision reached on June 29, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago affirmed an earlier ruling in granting Intercon Solutions the right to have its defamation case against the watchdog group heard by a state court.

A team of academics has taken issue with a number of key statements on e-scrap exports and generation recently made by the United Nations Environment Programme.

In a post on a scholarly waste and pollution blog called Discard Studies, researchers Josh Lepawsky, Joshua Goldstein and Yvan Schulz make the case that a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) this spring contains "serious shortcomings."