Alcoa Takes Minority Stake in Electronic Recyclers International

The aluminum company Alcoa has announced that it has invested $10 million in Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), becoming a minority investor in the electronics recycling company, headquartered in Fresno, Calif. The investment gives Alcoa a 10 percent stake in ERI.

The company adds that as part of the investment, Kevin Anton, Alcoa’s vice president and chief sustainability officer, will become a director of ERI. Prior to leading Alcoa’s sustainability efforts, Anton served as vice president, finance and strategy, for Alcoa Global Primary Products. He brings more than 30 years of leadership in the metals and mining industry to the board. Anton also notes that he has a “long background” in the scrap business.

In making the investment, Anton points out that a growing percentage of electronic equipment contains aluminum. “Between 2010 and 2013, the use of aluminum in laptop computers is expected to increase by 30 percent,” Anton says. He cites the light weight of the metal, its durability, as well as its heat conductivity and limitless surface finishes that make aluminum an ideal metal to be used in electronics.

Through the new partnership, Alcoa says it will bring its expertise in recycling to the challenge of electronic scrap, enhancing the role aluminum plays in making electronics more sustainable.

Anton also points out that by investing in ERI, Alcoa can become more intimate with the dismantling side of the business, which will help the company better understand how to better design their product to improve and enhance its recyclability.

“We see tremendous opportunity for aluminum in the consumer electronics market,” Anton says. “This partnership between our two companies enhances Alcoa’s ability to deliver on its commitment to sustainability by increasing the recycling of consumer electronics and driving sustainable practices.

“As the country’s largest e-waste recycler, ERI shares Alcoa’s commitment to financial success, environmental excellence, and social responsibility, and I look forward to working with ERI to drive recycling in the consumer electronics market,” he adds.

The decision to take a minority stake in ERI follows Alcoa’s partnership with ERI in 2010 to develop the free Aluminate recycling app for the iPhone, as part of the company’s goal of increasing the recycling rate of aluminum cans in the United States to 75 percent by the year 2015.

Alcoa’s investment will help further develop ERI’s industry-leading recycling technologies and expand its geographic footprint across the United States. At the present time ERI has seven recycling centers in the United States: two plants in Fresno, Calif.; Denver, Colo.; Seattle, Wash., Dallas; Indianapolis, Ind.; and Boston.

Alcoa also announced that it will become an enterprise member of the Basel Action Network (BAN)’s e-Stewards Certification program.

“Aluminum’s use in the global consumer electronics market continues to increase rapidly and we are honored to partner with Alcoa, a leader in the industry,” says John Shegerian, ERI’s co-founder, chairman and CEO. “This partnership will allow us to continue expanding and improving our operations while keeping pace with the ever-growing demand for sustainable solutions to electronic waste.”