SERI bolsters its events presence

Washington-based SERI, a not-for-profit organization focused on electronics recycling and reuse, has acquired the E-Reuse Conference (ERC) from Chicago-based E-Reuse Services Inc. SERI will rebrand the event as the Electronics Sustainability Summit, holding the first conference under that name Oct. 22-24 in Austin, Texas.

“We are very excited to add a conference to our growing list of SERI programs, all focused on the goal of driving electronics sustainability around the world,” SERI Executive Director Corey Dehmey says. “For years we’ve been strong supporters of the E-Reuse Conference and have enjoyed watching Sarah Kim grow and evolve the conference to become the premier event for the electronics reuse community. When acquiring ERC became a possibility, we couldn’t think of a better platform for us to build upon to engage the entire electronics industry around the topic of sustainability.”

The inaugural Electronics Sustainability Summit will be held at the Hyatt Regency Austin, and SERI says the basic structure of the event will feel very familiar to those who have attended shows in the past.

“I’m proud of what the E-Reuse Conference has grown into over the years," says Sarah Kim, who helped coordinate the ERC as head of E-Reuse Services. "Especially with the success of the combined ERC/E-Scrap formats in 2021 and 2023, it became clear just how much the industry benefits from a conference where all the stakeholders can share, learn and cross-pollinate in a collaborative environment.

“When I thought about the future of ERC and how it might continue to evolve, SERI felt like the perfect organization to take it to the next level. I couldn’t be more excited to work with SERI to build the Electronics Sustainability Summit with that shared vision in mind.”

“We want to retain much of what has made ERC so strong in the past, including the networking, exhibition floor, a focus on mobile and [an] attendee-influenced agenda, and then build from there," Dehmey adds. “We are building the Summit to create one event where all the stakeholders—regulators, manufacturers, the repair and returns communities, retailers, customers as well as the reuse and recycling industry—can come together to collaborate, learn and share.”

More information about the Electronics Sustainability Summit can be found here. 

SERI manages the R2 Sustainable Electronics Reuse and Recycling Standard and engages all stakeholders through a range of programs with a focus on ensuring everyone everywhere has access to responsible electronics reuse and recycling.

E-Reuse Services, established in 2017, provides consulting and training services to electronics recyclers, refurbishers and it asset disposition (ITAD) companies. The company also offers internal audits.