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[caption id="attachment_25063" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] A private equity firm, MBK Partners, and shareholder Young Poong submitted a bid to purchase a majority stake in Korea Zinc, a move the smelting company called a "hostile takeover." | Pavel Kapysh/Shutterstock[/caption] Top executives at South Korean smelting giant Korea Zinc are

Around 950 attendees came to Orlando, Florida, to take in exhibitor booths, sessions on the latest industry trends and laws, and workshops on certification standards at the 2024 E-Scrap Conference – but also to mourn the sudden loss of e-scrap veteran Billy Johnson just before the show. 

Although the European Union is still several years away from implementing its inaugural Digital Product Passport regulations, e-scrap market participants who do business with Europe are preparing for this new phase in sustainability regulations.

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued $725 million to six U.S. lithium-ion battery recycling projects, including two companies that will bring in batteries from consumer electronics.

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is working through rulemaking on SB 1215, which adds items with embedded batteries to the state's existing e-scrap recycling program. 

Major publicly-traded IT asset disposition firm Iron Mountain has continued its recent string of acquisitions, with Wisetek joining the ranks of Regency Technologies and ITRenew as Iron Mountain assets.

Apple's latest operating system update will expand a feature unpopular with reuse and repair advocates to not just cover the phone as a whole but also individual parts. 

Illumynt, a Boston-headquartered ITAD firm, has brought founder Paul Knight back to lead the company as CEO and shuffled other leadership positions. The changes come as the company is opening three new facilities globally due to a large contract.

Wisconsin-based Universal Recycling Technologies and California's Hanil Eco Solutions are combining their expertise to achieve Basel Convention compliance in e-plastics recycling, the companies announced this week.

Solar panel recyclers can now achieve a specific SERI certification, under the newly added Appendix G for photovoltaic modules.