processors

An Oregon-based e-scrap processor says government regulation practices and tough commodity markets have led the company to relocate shredding operations to Texas. Export Global Metals (EG Metals) has battled with state environmental regulators over compliance with stormwater regulations at its Portland, Ore.-area facility. The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in January fined the company, alleging it exposed e-scrap to the elements. EG Metals disputed the allegation and appealed the fine. As of Aug.

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.

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.

The e-Stewards certification of Materials Processing LLC has been withdrawn for one year following a $125,000 fine from Minnesota's Pollution Control Agency.

Materials Processing (MPC) was recently fined for stockpiling 2,500 tons of CRT glass in the St. Paul-Minneapolis metro area. Now, an investigation by e-Stewards has found the company was also using an undisclosed warehouse space in Philadelphia to store end-of-life electronics.

Minnesota-based Materials Processing LLC has been fined $125,000 for storing 2,500 tons of CRT glass in more than 100 semi-trailers around the Twin Cities.

A group of socially minded e-scrap firms have joined together to help open job opportunities for people with disabilities or previous incarcerations.

The Los Angeles-based Impact Recyclers is a network of certified social enterprise e-scrap recycling companies. The network currently includes seven recycling entities – some for-profit and some nonprofit groups – with locations in California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota and New York.

A just-released federal report sheds light on the numerous occupational health and safety dangers that likely exist at e-scrap firms throughout the country. The report, released this month by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), shares findings from a series of site visits conducted between 2012 and 2013 at the request of an undisclosed e-scrap firm in the U.S.

As the industry continues to grapple with collecting and recycling lead-heavy CRT televisions, a facility in the U.K. has become the first of its kind to mechanically recycle the successor to the CRT, flat panel televisions.

The U.K.'s Environment Agency has given Electrical Waste Recycling Group (EWRG) the green light to begin accepting LCD flat panel display (FPD) televisions for recycling at the company's 100,000-square-foot Huddersfield facility.

Federal Prison Industries, Inc., better known as UNICOR, is once again facing a lawsuit regarding worker safety and environmental standards at its electronics recycling operations.

UNICOR, which operates an inmate work program at federal corrections facilities, has been processing electronic scrap for nearly two decades.