Businesses, Governments Driving U.S. Electronics Recycling Market, ISRI Study Says
The U.S. is “well-equipped and has the infrastructure to collect, manually repair and refurbish, and mechanically process the exponentially increasing volume” of used and end-of-life electronics generated in the country, a study said. The survey by International Data Corp. was commissioned by the Institute of Scarp Recycling Industries (ISRI). The $5 billion-a-year electronics recycling industry is being “driven by commercially generated electronics scrap,” ISRI said, releasing preliminary findings of the study.
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U.S. recyclers are increasingly embracing third-party certifications like ISO 14001 and the EPA-sponsored R2 to “distinguish their companies and improve their bottom lines,” the study said. ISRI was among a group of stakeholders that developed the R2 standards. Environmental groups boycotted the process toward the end, and are now endorsing the e-Stewards certification developed by the Basel Action Network.
The electronics recycling industry employs more than 30,000 people, the survey said. “Although most of the companies in the electronics recycling industry are relatively small, most of the industry volume is processed by a relatively small number of larger companies.” Belying the widely-held notion that “rapidly changing” household consumer electronics are the source of most of e-waste recycling, the study said computer gear makes up 60 percent by weight of equipment handled by the recycling industry, and most of it comes from businesses.
The volume of electronics processed by the recycling industry doubled in the last five years to 4 million tons, ISRI said. “The initial findings of this survey are very positive and reflect an industry that is growing rapidly, boosting our economy, creating jobs and playing a critical role in protecting our environment and supplying important commodities,” said President Robin Wiener. “The report also makes clear that businesses, government and other groups are the dominant force driving the U.S. electronics recycling market.”