Congress may again attempt to create new regulations covering the disposal and recycling of used electronics, with the reintroduction of the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (RERA). The legislation, an earlier version of which was introduced in the 112th Congress but never moved out of committee, would prevent used electronics from being sent to developing countries unless they were found to be in...

MBA Polymers, a major manufacturer of recycled plastics, has announced it is reorganizing operations and bringing more of its future plastics production to the United States. Ironically, the first step in that shift will be shuttering the company's lone U.S. facility, the corporate headquarters located in Richmond, California. "It does seem counter-intuitive that we would be closing Richmond at the...

In an interview with E-Scrap News, an executive at Arrow Value Recovery says the company will complete its global implementation of the e-Stewards standard at all of its facilities by 2015, and a spokesperson offers new insight on the special circumstances involved in certifying the company’s many locations. For the past three years, Arrow Electronics has aggressively entered the IT...

The Society of the Plastics Industry hosted a webinar on July 2 to address some ongoing questions about China's Operation Green Fence enforcement operation. The panel of presenters which included Kathy Xuan of PARC Corp., Dr. Saurabh Naik of IEI, Dave Kaplan of Maine Plastics and Mike Biddle of MBA Polymers presented an overview of how Green Fence had affected...

Multinational electronic components supplier Arrow Electronics has reached a three-year agreement with the Basel Action Network to certify all of Arrow's electronics recycling and IT asset recovery operations worldwide to the e-Stewards standard. The pilot program makes Arrow the first company with locations on multiple continents to bring the certification to all its operations. The manufacturer has facilities in North...

U.K.-based Nulife Glass has opened its first North American facility in New York State to tackle CRT processing and recycling. The Nulife location, 40 miles south of Buffalo in Dunkirk, separates panel and funnel glass, and uses a proprietary high-temperature furnace system to extract the lead found in CRT glass. The company then sells that material to battery manufacturers, and...

Ontario’s Environment Minister Jim Bradley last week introduced a new Waste Reduction Act and Strategy, which would make numerous changes to the province’s solid waste and recycling management, including doing away with controversial eco fees on electronics purchases. The long-awaited Waste Reduction Act would replace the 2002 Waste Diversion Act and make some significant changes to how Ontario’s solid waste...

Nearly 959 million smartphones will be shipped in 2013, according to the latest estimates from International Data Corp. The 33 percent year-over-year increase in global shipments also represents the first time that smartphone shipments will eclipse conventional cell phones, according to IDC. Much of this growth is expected to come from emerging markets, which will account for 65 percent of...

New York City has launched a new e-scrap collection program for multi-family residential buildings. The new program, called e-cycleNYC, allows all apartment buildings with 10 units or more to opt-in to the collection program. Building owners can use any combination of permanent storage and collection bins, room cleanouts or organized building events to collect used electronics. While New York State...

The plastics recycling industry is grappling with what to do about China's Green Fence, with some arguing it's a disaster and others saying it's the best thing to happen to domestic plastics recycling in years. Last February, China announced a 10-month enforcement campaign relating to the import of waste and recycling materials into the country. The regulations, which passed in...