Electronics

Investors take majority stake in HiTech Assets

Caretta, a Chicago-based growth equity investment platform, and GBT Capital, a Phoenix-based founder-focused investment firm, have acquired a majority stake in HiTech Assets LLC, Oklahoma City, and established a long-term partnership with the company’s founder, Lane Epperson, and existing senior management. The transaction closed March 25, 2016, and terms were not disclosed.

HiTech, founded in 2002 and with locations in Oklahoma City and in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the largest independent information technology asset disposition (ITAD) companies in the United States. The company offers enterprise class data destruction and sustainable technology asset disposition services that feature asset reconciliation. The company is R2/RIOS (Responsible Recycling Practices/Recycling Industry Operating Standard), ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified. HiTech’s clients include Fortune 500 companies.

“We are delighted to have found partners in Caretta and GBT Capital, who share our values and bring decades of operational experience and a unique vision to the table,” Epperson, who will continue to lead HiTech, says in a news release issued by the companies. “With this partnership, we look forward to continuing to provide our best-in-class ITAD solutions to current clients, expanding services and markets and building a world-class organization as the IT industry continues to evolve.”

In a conversation at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) 2016 Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas in early April, Epperson said the partnership will enable HiTech to expand its services to include mobile data destruction in the form of physical destruction and data overwriting, as well as to increase its geographic coverage area.

He added that Caretta, GBT Capital and HiTech share a commitment to providing best-in-class services with a focus on customer service and environmental responsibility. He says all parties share the same “sense of mission.”

In the partnership, Caretta is working with long-time technology entrepreneur and founder George Slessman of GBT Capital, who will serve on the board of HiTech. Slessman is founder and CEO of IO, a provider of co-location and data center services, and brings decades of experience in building and leading technology companies.

Ryan Schultz led the transaction for Caretta, which invests in small and medium-sized businesses.

Founded in 2006, GBT is a global venture capital firm that says it empowers founders and entrepreneurism in next-generation technology and service businesses.

Consumer Technology Association reports record electronics recycling rate

The Arlington, Virginia-based Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has announced a record-setting 700 million pounds of consumer electronics (CE) have been recycled under the eCycling Leadership Initiative (ELI). According to the Fifth Annual Report of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, the consumer technology industry is recycling in record numbers for the fifth consecutive year.

“It’s a testament to our industry’s commitment to increasing sustainability that even as our industry creates less waste by innovating lighter, smaller devices, we continue to see recycling increases each year,” says Gary Shapiro, CTA president and CEO. “This fifth annual report exemplifies the tremendous strides our industry can make in just a single year. Consumers have access to more recycling options than ever before, approaching our goal of making it as easy to recycle old devices as it is to purchase new ones.”

ELI’s annual recycling total increased by more than 6 percent in 2015—40 million pounds above the 2014 level and more than double the amount recycled before the initiative’s inception in 2010 (300 million pounds). The ELI program, led by CTA, is a collaboration among CE manufacturers, retailers, collectors, recyclers, nongovernmental organizations and governments at all levels to advance the industry’s sustainability efforts.

Other highlights of the report include:

• By the end of 2015, nearly all (99.9 percent) of the recycling facilitated by ELI’s participants was conducted in third-party-certified recycling facilities.
• More than 8,300 responsible recycling locations are now available to consumers throughout the United States.
• In partnership with Young Minds Inspired, CTA produced and distributed school curriculum programs on ecycling in English and Spanish for fourth through sixth grade classes.
• According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent report on municipal solid waste, CE products are now the fastest-declining product category for waste generation and disposal.