Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct location of Touchstone.
Sage Sustainable Electronics, the Closed Loop Partners–backed IT asset disposition (ITAD) company that has rolled up two competitors in the past 18 months, announced a slate of executive changes this week aimed at scaling its electronics circularity platform through a new three-year growth plan.
Co-founder Robert “Bob” Houghton is shifting from CEO to a full-time Chairman of the Board role, while Neil Peters-Michaud — the founder and longtime CEO of Madison, Wisconsin-based Cascade Asset Management — has been named incoming CEO. Brian Itterly, founder of Touchstone Wireless and Relectro, joins Sage’s Board of Managers. The leadership transition reflects Sage’s integration of two recent acquisitions and what the company describes as sustained double-digit annual growth since its 2014 founding.
A built-up platform
Sage was founded in Columbus in 2014 by Houghton and co-founder Jill Vaské, both ITAD veterans who previously launched Redemtech and helped develop foundational frameworks for the industry, including support for the e-Stewards certification program, the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program, and the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling.
The company’s growth trajectory accelerated sharply after circular economy investment firm Closed Loop Partners acquired a majority stake in Sage on Nov. 1, 2023, through its Closed Loop Leadership Fund — a lower mid-market buyout private equity vehicle.Â
That deal kicked off a buy-and-build strategy. In October 2024, Sage acquired Pennsylvania-based Relectro, a national provider of electronics repair, refurbishment and logistics services that repairs more than 25,000 assets per year for warranty firms, insurance companies and mobile device providers. Relectro operates a 40,000-square-foot R2v3-certified facility in Telford, Pennsylvania, less than 10 miles from Sage’s then-newly announced fourth national repurposing center in Montgomeryville, PA.Â
In February 2025, Sage closed its acquisition of Cascade Asset Management, a Madison, Wisconsin–based ITAD provider founded in 1999 by Neil and Jessica Peters-Michaud that operates refurbishment and demanufacturing facilities in Madison, Indianapolis and Orlando. The combined company became “one of the largest pure ITAD service providers in the United States,” according to Closed Loop Partners.
Sage also describes itself, post-Cascade, as “the largest pure-play ITAD company in North America and the first to offer a full suite of IT lifecycle services,” according to a February 2025 statement on the company’s website.
Cascade has processed more than 115 million pounds of electronics from businesses, institutions and individuals across the U.S. since its founding.Â
The leadership shift
Per the company’s announcement, Houghton’s transition to full-time Chairman is intended to support execution of Sage’s long-term strategic plan. “Over the last 10 years, we built a strong foundation and made significant progress toward Sage’s vision,” Houghton said in the announcement. “The Board we formed with Closed Loop Partners in 2023 has provided meaningful partnership and support, bolstering our momentum and guiding the company forward.”
Peters-Michaud’s elevation to CEO follows a year leading the integration of Cascade into Sage. “I found that Sage and Cascade shared a culture of sustainability and customer centricity,” he said in the announcement, adding that strong cultural alignment between the two organizations contributed to the success of the integration project he led over the past year.
Peters-Michaud led Cascade for 25 years, until its acquisition by Sage in 2025.
Itterly, joining Sage’s Board of Managers, founded Relectro in 2011 — the company was originally known as iRecycleNow.com before rebranding in January 2020.
He is also a founder of Touchstone Wireless, a Hatfield, Pennsylvania-based cell phone refurbisher that was acquired by Brightpoint Inc. for $80 million.Â
In the announcement, Itterly emphasized that “Sage is a one-stop solution for repair and ITAD.”
Footprint and market backdrop
Sage’s platform now spans seven facilities across six states, processing over one million assets annually for clients that include Fortune 100 companies in financial services, healthcare and defense, the company said. That is up from “nearly one million assets annually” across four facilities in three states cited at the time of the Cascade announcement in February 2025.
The platform expansion comes as enterprise IT departments lengthen device refresh cycles — averaging two years for smartphones, four years for laptops and five years for printers — and demand grows for services that keep critical mineral-containing electronics circulating in domestic supply chains.
Closed Loop Partners’ buyout private equity group is employing a buy-and-build strategy across plastics & packaging, organics, circular technology, the built environment, healthcare, energy transition and textiles. The Sage-Relectro deal marked the seventh investment from that group.Â
“We look forward to supporting Sage’s team through this next phase of growth, as they expand their capacity and enable resilient and continued growth,” said Jackson Pei, Managing Director and Co-Head of Closed Loop Private Equity, in the announcement. “This transition reflects both the strength of its leadership foundation and its ambition for the future. Amidst growing industry demand, Sage is well positioned to continue advancing a robust circular economy for electronics.”
Houghton said Sage’s customer focus has driven the growth pattern it intends to maintain. “We look for customers that value security, sustainability, and rigorous asset management — all Sage core competencies,” he said in the announcement. “Combined with our customer focus, those priorities are the foundation for real partnerships and sustainable growth.”
