News

A Spanish company supplying CRT glass to the European ceramics industry has been seeing glass tonnages from the U.S. steadily increase.

In an update sent to E-Scrap News, JJ Santos of Camacho Recycling says demand in the European ceramic tile industry for both panel and funnel glass is "increasing more and more."

Moreover, he expects Camacho will receive more than 67,000 tons of CRT glass from the U.S. in 2015. Glass tonnages, according to Santos, will also start arriving from Canada this month.

To meet growing demand, e-scrap recycling company Hugo Neu Recycling will close its facility in Mount Vernon, New York and open a larger, more advanced one in New Jersey, the company says.

"It certainly will meet the demands of our growing business,” Alan Ratner, the company's president, told E-Scrap News.

Hugo Neu Recycling provides various services for organizations. While Ratner said Hugo Neu's primary business is in collecting and recycling e-scrap, the company also provides data destruction and refurbishment services.

The trustee appointed to handle the liquidation of Creative Recycling Systems told E-Scrap News the company's collapse came down to one thing: CRT glass. In an interview, Jerry McHale, trustee for the Florida-based processor currently ensnared in a multi-million dollar legal battle with Regions Bank, said Creative failed to devise a reasonable strategy to handle the significant loads of glass that came in company doors. "Going back in history, to me, it looks like the

Publicly traded E-Waste Systems has been ruled in default in a lawsuit alleging the firm did not pay workers at its former Ohio processing location.

According to court documents reviewed by E-Scrap News, a total of nine employees have joined the suit, which was originally filed on Nov. 25 and alleges E-Waste Systems (EWSI) failed to pay them "and others similarly situated" for hours worked, including overtime, between Oct. 17 and Nov. 18 of 2014. The employees were then promptly laid off without warning or pay, court documents charge.

An industry executive with ties to the lone remaining glass-to-glass CRT recycling operation says the company, Videocon, will be continuing to manufacture CRT TVs and monitors for at least another three years.

If accurate, such a time frame would provide breathing room for U.S. companies needing to move collected glass downstream.

"The CRT market is likely to exist for three years, if not more," Albino Bessa, president of Videocon glass supplier Technologies Displays Americas, told E-Scrap News.

Florida-based Creative Recycling Systems has moved to liquify its assets, court documents show. Creative, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this September after being sued to the tune of $18.7 million, announced the decision on Dec. 16. A notice sent to potentially affected parties and obtained by E-Scrap News states an additional meeting will be held with creditors on Jan.

E-Waste Systems has lost the lease on its Ohio location.

In a Dec. 2 ruling, a Hamilton County judge sided with the owner of the Springdale property leased by E-Waste Systems, Inc. (EWSI) and formally evicted the publicly traded company from the location.

Elected officials in Illinois are mulling an amendment to the state's e-scrap legislation that would lead to higher manufacturer recycling goals and protections for local governments.

Introduced by Rep. Emily McAsey, a Democrat representing Illinois' 85th District, the legislation picked up four chief co-sponsors in recent weeks following a reading in the Illinois House Environmental Committee.

Telecommunications giant AT&T has reached a $52 million settlement with the state of California for illegally dumping scrap electronics in state landfills. The settlement was announced on Nov. 20 by California's attorney general and was decribed by state officials as their first e-scrap management enforcement action against a telecom company. "This settlement holds AT&T accountable for unlawfully dumping electronic waste,” Attorney General Kamala D.

A CRT glass processor operating in Arizona and Ohio has received a notice of violation from state environmental officials, but company representatives say a plan will be worked out to ensure glass moves downstream.

In the official notice of violation (NOV) dated Oct. 6 and obtained by E-Scrap News, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) lists four violations found during an inspection two months earlier at the Phoenix facility of Closed Loop Refining and Recovery.