News

The U.S. tariff whirlwind continues this month: Many imports from Canada and Mexico, including those of recycled materials, had their tariffs suspended two days after they took effect last week, while previously announced tariffs on aluminum and steel from all countries are set to take effect Wednesday.

North America's current capacity to process 144,000 tons per year of lithium-ion batteries is "quite insignificant" against the projected growth in new manufacturing, according to a recent overview of the global lithium-ion battery recycling landscape from consulting and research firm Deloitte and a division of the American Chemical Society.

Data center decommissioning, right-to-repair, tariffs and the role of artificial intelligence in end-of-life product grading were hot topics during the first two days of a meeting of reverse logistics professionals in Las Vegas this week. 

Readers last month were drawn to coverage of a federal criminal case involving a former Wisetek employee who stole devices during ITAD jobs. Camston Wrather's bankruptcy, Kuusakoski's exit from the U.S., a major ITAD merger and a FBI ITAD audit also drew attention.

Details are scarce on U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's plans to cut his agency's spending by 65% or more, but some of its 15,000 full-time-equivalent positions and grants to recycling programs across the country could be on the chopping block. 

The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool program rolled out new criteria for sustainable electronics, increasing focus on environmental and human rights requirements. 

IT asset disposition giant Sims Lifecycle Services is handling "extraordinary" volumes of repurposed assets through its data center decommissioning business, and the company anticipates that is only going to increase, particularly in the U.S.

3R Technology California is getting ready to open up shop at its first U.S. location in the Southern California city of Riverbank. The company processes e-plastics into clean, separated flake to help keep e-plastics in the U.S. 

The Recycled Materials Association warned of potential "severe" disruption to the materials recovery sector after tariffs targeting the U.S.'s largest trading partners took effect March 4. Canada's proposed response includes tariffs on U.S. exports of recycled materials.

Last year, a study suggested that household products containing plastic possibly recovered from electronics had high levels of flame retardants – but the authors issued a correction to the work after finding a miscalculation.