The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in the number of remote workers. TES, the information technology asset disposition firm headquartered in Singapore, says the trend toward remote work likely will continue even after the pandemic. Therefore, the company has launched a corporate retail returns solution with UPS. Using the service, remote employees can return their aged IT assets in what TES says is a “safe, simple and sustainable way.”

By partnering with UPS, TES can offer its ITAD services customers access to a network of UPS retail locations. UPS offers such an outlet within 10 miles of 84 percent of the U.S. population, according to TES, which has U.S. locations in Atlanta, Seattle and in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  

Two return options are available: direct to mobile or pointing letter. With the direct-to-mobile option, the employee who wants to return her IT asset is sent a QR code to her mobile phone. Alternatively, a pointing letter can be sent to the employee, providing directions to return the device (along with the letter) to the local UPS store.

TES says the UPS associate handles it from there, following a defined workflow to determine the relevant contact information from the customer, securely packaging the device in recyclable and reusable packaging and returning it to the nearest TES facility for processing. 

Eric Ingebretsen, TES chief commercial officer, says that while the company has been collecting IT devices from remote employees for quite some time, it took more of an “ad hoc” approach rather than developing an optimized solution. He says that was because of the small volume of devices generated by this sector. “COVID has changed everything,” Ingebretsen says.

“We felt we had to come up with more optimized solution for home users. We always knew that we could do better,” he says, adding that the issue never rose to the top of the priority list until the pandemic. “COVID was definitely the catalyst.”

Ingebretsen says TES has good visibility into its clients' plans regarding remote work, adding, “Most are not going back to full time in the office.” Instead, he says, many of TES’ clients will take a hybrid approach, with employees spending more time working from home rather than exclusively in the office. “We are not seeing any indication that it will go back to the way it was before.”

Ingebretsen says Amazon is an example of a company that has optimized reverse logistics, and UPS plays a part in that. Therefore, TES approached UPS. The shipper had an “out-of-the-box” solution, he says, that got TES nearly 80 percent of the way there. After some customization, the companies arrived at a solution that would provide the chain of custody and security TES and its clients required.   

“UPS was the right partner for us for a couple of reasons,” he says, citing the number of retail stores available as one of those reasons. Ingebretsen says UPS’ retail locations eliminate the forward-shipping inefficiencies associated with sending boxes to remote employees.

“It makes it easier for the user from our perspective as well,” he says. This is because the remote workers do not have to worry about whether they have securely packaged their devices to protect against damage in transit. “All they have to do is bring it to the UPS Store.”  

When the UPS Store employee receives the device, he scans the QR code or enters the information from the pointing letter. This provides information on the originator—the user and his or her company—where the device is being shipped from and what TES facility it is being shipped to. It does not include the serial number of the device, though this is something TES could include in the future, Ingebretsen says.

The UPS Store employee then will pack the device using the detailed packaging instructions UPS has developed and that TES has vetted. These instructions include the size of box to use and the foam inserts to be included for a range of IT devices, Ingebretsen says.

UPS provides traceability in transit with real-time tracking of these shipments, he says, which also was a factor in selecting the company.

For TES clients that want data sanitization performed prior to shipping an asset, their corporate IT departments can provide instructions for performing an initial wipe. Ingebretsen says this generally isn’t forensic-level sanitization but is sufficient for shipping. For those that require more security, USB pass keys can be provided to wipe the device to NIST standards. He says most of TES’ clients don’t require that degree of sanitization prior to shipping.

Ingebretsen says TES is seeing roughly 1,000 devices a month returned from remote workers. “We expect that to go up,” he adds. However, Ingebretsen says some companies have put off their IT spending, opting to keep their older devices in service longer.” He says this bubble will burst eventually.  

Once a package arrives at a TES facility, it is treated as any other device would be, Ingebretsen says. The device is scanned to identify the originating company before entering TES’ standard process of reviewing, testing and sanitization.

Europe and Asia do not have the same UPS Store retail infrastructure, Ingebretsen says, so TES is looking for a similar solution with UPS that doesn’t have the retail store aspect. “Europe is next to be optimized,” he says.

“We want to make these solutions easy for our customers.”

Amp Robotics Corp., Denver, has introduced Amp Clarity, artificial intelligence- (AI-) powered material characterization software that enables the recognition and classification of recyclables as they flow through the different recovery stages of the recycling process. The company says the technology provides “measurable transparency on the recyclables captured and missed during different recycling processes, as well as confirming the composition of recovered material bales destined for resale to end markets in the supply chain.”

“Data transparency in the recycling industry has been a longstanding challenge due to the complexity of mixed material streams, compounded by ongoing changes in consumer packaging,” says Matanya Horowitz, founder and CEO of Amp. “These obstacles often create impediments to accurate data collection and prevent a clear understanding of what goes into and comes out of the different infrastructure stages that support recycling.”

He continues, “Our material characterization software digitizes the real-time flow of recyclables with precision and consistency, providing opportunities to identify gaps in material capture, transparency on what recyclables are and are not recycled and a basis for standardized measurement vital to improve our national recycling system.”

Amp Clarity captures data on plastics, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS); aluminum recyclables such as used beverage cans (UBCs); and fiber, such as corrugated cardboard (OCC) and sorted residential paper and newsprint (SRPN). Data are collected, classified and subclassified so material recovery facilities (MRFs) can see what recyclables are flowing through different stages of their operations. Amp says this monitoring can help prevent the loss of recyclables to landfill, diagnose gaps in processing efficiency, audit the composition of material streams and create certainty about final bale content and material quality for buyers and sellers.

“Over the last year, our team has worked hard on product development, testing and delivery of Amp Clarity,” Jeff Loebbaka, chief commercial officer of Amp Robotics, says. “We partnered with an initial group of our customers to beta test our solution in the field, and the response was very positive.”

Loebbaka says Amp customers see Clarity as a means to prevent the loss of valuable material to landfill and to improve operational performance. “Higher capture rates result in increased revenue, reduced disposal costs and efficiency gains that further lower operational expenses,” he says. “Our customers are also using Clarity’s material characterization capabilities to establish confidence in the final material quality of their bales sold to plastics reclaimers, paper mills and aluminum manufacturers. Based on feedback we’ve received, Clarity can play a critical role in bridging industry standards for bale certification.”

Amp Clarity is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution available via an online web portal that can be accessed through desktop, laptop and mobile devices, the company says. Clarity is made possible through Amp’s portfolio of hardware systems, including the Amp Cortex robotic sorting system and the company’s Amp Vision system, a standalone modular enclosure that can be dropped into a facility’s existing operation for specific data collection from residual, quality control, container, paper and audit lines. Amp says Clarity can serve as a QC application for other processing equipment, such as optical sorters or eddy currents, to identify recyclables that may have missed for capture later in the operation. Clarity also can be placed before the final material quality processing stage to identify contaminants before plastics, aluminum or paper are baled for resale.

“The integration of Amp Vision and Amp Clarity provides opportunities for consumer packaged goods companies, retailers and packaging manufacturers to understand the flow and recovery of their specific containers and packaging,” says Chris Wirth, vice president of business development and government affairs, Amp Robotics. “Our technology can help producer initiatives to increase recycling rates and create new value streams for recyclables.”

Wirth adds that the technology also could create “a mechanism to support federal, state and local government programs focused on landfill diversion goals and recycled-content standards to advance a more circular economy.”

Earlier this month, PET reclaimer Evergreen said it has deployed Amp’s AI-guided robots at its Clyde, Ohio, plant. Amp says the installation marked its continued expansion of its technology with plastics reclaimers and that its technology identifies and sorts green and clear PET from postconsumer bales of plastic soft drink bottles, which Evergreen recycles into flakes or pellets and sells to end markets as feedstock for new containers and packaging. 

The company also introduced automated secondary sorting facilities, which apply advanced automation enabled by AI to sort through low volumes of residue to recover plastics, UBCs and OCC.

Aaron Blum, co-founder, chief operating officer and chief compliance officer of ERI, the Fresno, California-headquartered information technology (IT) and electronics asset disposition provider, has been named to the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER) Executive Committee.  

ERI has been a long-time CAER member. With Blum on the executive committee, the company says it will play an important role in guiding the organization’s efforts to support responsible recycling. In addition to ERI, the CAER Executive Committee includes Apto Solutions, Cascade Asset Management, Colt Refining & Recycling, Glencore, Ingram Micro and Sage Sustainable Electronics. Since its founding, CAER has educated policymakers in Congress and executive agencies about the electronics recycling industry and its potential for growth and job creation, ERI says in a news release about Blum’s appointment to CAER Executive Committee. 

“It is an honor and privilege to be able to share our insights with CAER and its constituents as we work toward the common goal of responsible electronic recycling standards nationwide,” Blum says. “I look forward to working alongside my prestigious industry colleagues on the committee and making as we make an impact together.”   

“Aaron Blum and ERI are important additions to our Executive Committee as we work to promote responsible recycling,” CAER says in news release it issued about Blum's appointment. “Aaron’s experience and expertise will be invaluable in guiding our efforts to ensure electronics recycling is performed securely and sustainably to protect national security and the environment while benefiting the American economy.” 

Packaging Corp. of America (PCA), a packaging producer based in Lake Forest, Illinois, has announced financial results for the first quarter of 2021.

According to its first-quarter 2021 report, PCA earned a net income of $167 million, or $1.75 per share, and net income of $169 million, or $1.77 per share, excluding special items. First-quarter net sales were $1.8 billion in 2021 and $1.7 billion in 2020. 

Total company earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first quarter, excluding special items, was $342 million in 2021 and $311 million in 2020.

In the packaging segment, PCA achieved record containerboard volume in the first quarter of 2021. During PCA’s earnings call that took place April 27, Tom Hassfurther, executive vice president of corrugated products, said total volume in PCA’s corrugated products plants was up 6.6 percent compared with 2020 figures and equaled the record for total box shipments set in the fourth quarter of 2020. He said shipments per day were up 8.3 percent compared with last year.

Hassfurther reported that strong domestic demand drove the outside sales volume of containerboard up 13 percent over last year’s first quarter. Containerboard production was 1,195,000 tons, and containerboard inventory was up 14,000 tons from the fourth quarter of 2020 and up 41,000 tons compared to the first quarter of 2020. 

“Packaging segment demand remained very strong throughout the first quarter as we set a new all-time quarterly record for containerboard volume and matched our all-time quarterly total box shipments record,” says Mark W. Kowlzan, chairman and CEO of PCA., in the news release announcing the company's earnings,  

In the paper segment, sales volume was up 5,000 tons from the fourth quarter of 2020 and down 48,000 tons compared to the first quarter of 2020. 

“Looking at our Paper segment, EBITDA excluding special items in the first quarter was $16 million with sales of $165 million or a 10 percent margin compared to the first quarter of 2020’s EBITDA of $42 million and sales of $217 million or 19 percent margin,” Kowlzan says. “As expected, sales volume was about 22 percent below last year, as we ran only one machine at the Jackson, Alabama, mill this quarter versus both machines running in the first quarter of 2020. First-quarter paper prices and mix were almost 3 percent below last year. However, prices began to move higher in the latter part of the quarter, resulting from the announced paper price increases and averaged 1 percent higher than fourth quarter 2020 average prices.”

Looking at the second quarter

In the second quarter of the year, Kowlzan says he expects packaging demand to remain strong with export prices increasing. In the paper segment, he expects volumes to be fairly flat with higher average prices and mix as the company continues the rollout of its recently announced paper price increases.

“The second quarter will be our busiest of the year for planned annual outages in our Packaging segment with work scheduled at four of our mills,” Kowlzan says. 

The PCA says that outage expenses are estimated to be about 20 cents per share higher compared with the first quarter. Continued inflation with freight and logistics expenses as most of our operating and converting costs are also expected. However, Kowlzan says he believes energy costs should improve as we move into seasonally milder weather.

Regarding old corrugated containers (OCC) prices, Kowlzan said in the earnings call that he expects that prices for that recovered paper grade could be up as much as 50 percent over last year’s average in the second quarter of the year.