Major electronics manufacturers this week joined with the Consumer Technology Association to form the Consumer Technology Circularity Initiative, aiming to boost e-scrap processing, improve repair and reuse, and incorporate more recycled content into products.
Fast-growing processor Sprout late last year purchased key assets of CircleIT, a longtime processor previously known as HiTech Assets. A Sprout executive said CircleIT's platform for tracking and reporting sustainability metrics to clients helped drive the deal.
Ontario-headquartered Cyclic Materials is actively sourcing hard disks from ITAD firms for its magnet extraction and rare earth processing operations. The company is planning to expand with multiple facilities in the U.S. and Canada in the coming years.
Sending battery-containing devices through the shredder is typically a no-no for several reasons, but manually removing and taping batteries prior to shredding the rest of the device is labor intensive. A newly unveiled processing system addresses the conundrum.
Advocates for electronics repair last month delivered a petition asking the Federal Trade Commission to craft rules to prohibit manufacturers from restricting repair of their products.
Aurubis will invest $359 million at a smelter, gold maintains its recent high prices and researchers say recycled copper from e-scrap doesn't necessarily generate fewer greenhouse gasses than virgin mined metal.