Electronics Companies Team Up to Create Mega Electronics Recycling
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 01. 9.08
Photo credit: JohnJMatlock
The big boys at Sharp, Panasonic and Toshiba have taken advantage of being in the same room at CES to announce that they've joined forces to create a new electronics recycling company, called the Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM). The company was formed to help other manufacturers and state and local governments manage electronics recycling programs across the US.
Formed in response to some stringent regulations passed last year in Minnesota, the company is working to help bring companies up to the new code, having collected 750 tons of junk in the first five months, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. Similar deals are in the works in Connecticut, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington; on the manufacturer side of the equation, MRM has deals with Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Philips, Pioneer, Sanyo, and Syntax-Brillian.
"We believe that forming an independent company to manage collective electronic recycling programs is the best way to achieve the economies of scale and efficiencies necessary to create a sustainable recycling system for used electronics products." said David Thompson, MRM President.
It's an interesting approach to a huge problem -- something we've talked about at length both domestically and in Mexico, China and India, just to name a few -- that we expect to get worse before it gets better. With the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directives in place, the manufacturers are being forced to get better at building less-toxic, more recyclable gadgets, but there are still big holes in the recycling process that MRM can hopefully help patch. In a year, hopefully we'll have more good news from them to report. ::DVICE via ::PR Newswire
Great move forward on recycling WEEE.
I hope to see the large companies using this solution globally rather than waiting for legislation that forces them do deal with WEEE in each country.
Great move forward on recycling WEEE.
I hope to see the large companies using this solution globally rather than waiting for legislation that forces them do deal with WEEE in each country.
Great move forward on recycling WEEE.
I hope to see the large companies using this solution globally rather than waiting for legislation that forces them do deal with WEEE in each country.