Electronics News

Sims Recycling Solutions is undertaking the construction of what it calls the world’s largest electronic scrap recycling facility at the ABP Port of Newport, South Wales, 130 miles west of London and 100 miles south of Birmingham, England.

The total investment in the project will near $22 million and will include cathode ray tube recycling, conventional electronic scrap recycling and plastics recycling processes. At full capacity, the recycling center will be able to process more than 100,000 metric tons of electronic scrap per year.

Sims has a significant presence at the port. The company operates what it calls the world’s largest refrigerator recycling operation at the port. Newport is also home to one of the world’s largest horsepower automobile shredders, and the entire facility is located on a deep sea dock.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has signed legislation that establishes an electronics collection and disposal program in the city.

Bloomberg had threatened to veto the original legislation that the City Council had passed, leading Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn to withdraw the original bill and reintroduced it as two pieces of legislation. The piece signed into law by Bloomberg begins to establish the program, and the second piece, which Bloomberg is expected to veto, sets collection standards, according to the New York Times.

In prepared remarks, Bloomberg notes, "Introductory Number 728 requires manufacturers of certain electronic equipment—such as computers, monitors and televisions—to collect their products offered for return by any person in the city and to ensure that the equipment is properly disposed of in accordance with existing laws and EPA guidelines. Manufacturers will be required to submit an electronic waste management plan to the Department of Sanitation, describing in detail how they would implement the requirements of the law."

According to the New York Times, the legislation calls for electronics manufacturers to develop and manage programs that could include curbside pickups, neighborhood collections and returns by mail and in stores. The programs will require Department of Sanitation approval.

Manufacturers failing to recycle returned merchandise could be fined $1,000 for each violation, the New York Times reports.

Peter Prinz has joined its staff of Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), based in Fresno, Calif., as project manager and chief automation engineer.

Prior to joining ERI, Prinz had helped to start American Electronic Recycling, which he managed for four years. He also previously owned and managed his own scrap metal recycling yard in Lawrence, Mass., from 1998 until 2004. Prinz began his career in the scrap metal industry in 1975 with the installation and design of an auto shredder for Miller Compressing.

"Pete is known as one of the most experienced shredding engineers in the business and will play a key leadership role in our installation of revolutionary new shredding systems, organization-wide" John Shegerian, ERI’s president and CEO, says.

Global Electric and Electronic Processing (GEEP) has opened its newest electronics recycling facility in Edmonton, Alberta. The large center is designed to act as a hub for electronics recycling across Canada. The new facility is expected to process approximately 30,000 metric tons of old computers, televisions and other electronic scrap materials per year.

"We’re excited to be working with the city of Edmonton, an international leader in waste management, and we look forward to a long-term collaboration built on our mutual priorities of innovation and environmental protection," Victor Roth, president of GEEP Alberta, says.

The new facility is owned and operated by GEEP Alberta. It is a registered processor under Alberta’s electronics recycling program, administered by the Alberta Recycling Management Authority. Edmonton’s two Eco Stations are registered collection sites for the provincial program.

Eco Stations accept all types of electronic and electrical household items, including toasters, can openers, power tools, vacuums, computers, monitors and almost anything with a cord or battery, for processing at the GEEP facility. There is no charge to bring this material to the Eco Stations.

The new facility is part of EcoVision Edmonton, the city’s vision for an environmentally sustainable community.

Electronics recycler Global Investment Recovery Inc. has expanded its presence in Reno, Nev., with the purchase of an 80,000-square-foot processing facility.

The company continues to operate its current 55,000-square-foot plant in Reno.

The new facility expands Global’s operations to more than 430,000 square feet. In addition to the five SSI, Wilsonville, Ore., shredding systems that the company currently owns and operates, it plans to install a second, more powerful shredder in Reno to handle ferrous and nonferrous metals to increase overall productivity and efficiency.

In addition to its two Reno sites, Global operates facilities in Tampa, Fla.; Aiken County, S.C.; Tucson, Ariz., and Shreveport, La.

ReCellular, the official recycling partner of CTIA Wireless 2008, which was April 1-3, helped to illustrate the need for increased wireless recycling by showcasing more than 40,000 idled phones in display towers throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The cell phone recycling rate is estimated to be as low as 10 percent of the 150 million phones Americans retire each year.

To encourage attendees to recycle their cell phones, CTIA and ReCellular also offered on-site wireless collection centers throughout the hall.

ReCellular, based in Dexter, Mich., collects 4 million phones per year through corporate, charitable and grassroots collections programs.

E-EndUSA, a Frederick, Md.-based electronics recycling company, has entered into a strategic partnership with Engineering Services Network Inc. (ESN), Arlington, Va., to provide federal agencies with the ability to manage the secure data sanitization and destruction of all media containing electronic data, including hard drives, magnetic tapes and optical discs.

E-EndUSA specializes in sanitization and destruction of media containing electronic data and the reuse and recycling of end-of-life electronics.

ESN provides engineering and technology solutions to federal agencies using a variety of services through a U.S. General Services Administration Veterans Technology Services (VETS) Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC).

In addition to destroying data on electronic media, e-EndUSA will provide recycling of the obsolete equipment through its recycling facility. For added security, dealing with data sanitization and destruction, e-EndUSA now employs its proprietary, compact and portable degausser and shredder, which operate within a client’s facility.

"We are excited about our strategic partnership with ESN," Steve Chafitz, president of e-EndUSA, says. "Combining our ability to deal with end-of-life electronics and ESN’s expertise in IT services, we can help the EPA and GSA implement environmentally sound solutions for federal agencies. This will protect our environment and stretch scarce budget dollars," Chafitz adds.