Sims Adds to its Electronics Scrap Recycling Portfolio

Sims Group Ltd. Has acquired Global Investment Recovery, Inc., a U.S. electronic scrap recycler and asset recovery specialist based in Tampa, Fla.

GIR, founded in 1992, has operating facilities in Florida, South Carolina, Nevada, Louisiana and Arizona. The acquisition will increase Sims’ North American electronics recycling and asset recovery market presence by about 40 percent, consolidating its market leading position.

Steve Skurnac, president of SRS's North American operations, said that the acquisition helps to fill out a hole where the company did not have a presence; in this case the Southeast.

"We targeted the Southeast as an area of growth," Skurnac notes. Somehwere we we are not providing services. It gives us a geographic footprint."

At the same time, the acquisition is compatible with SRS's other facilities in North America.

While the deal helps to patch one hole for the company, Skurnac notes that the Northeastern U.S. is one area where the company needs to more fully develop. "We have one more gap in in the electronics recycling side," Skurnac notes.

GIR’s service offering extends to recycling (including reverse logistics, recycling of excess inventories and obsolete parts), asset management services (including testing, repair and reuse, secure on-site shredding and separation and destruction of hard drive data to military specifications) and customized reporting and certification.

"The GIR acquisition is a tremendous addition to Sims Recycling Solutions’ North American business and will be a significant contributor to our growth strategy in the region," said Jeremy Sutcliffe, Sims’ executive director.

Skurnac adds that the company has 14-15 locations in its SRS division in North America.