Global efforts in a growing sector

The electronic or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling sector has long held a place for entrepreneurs and single-location operators to serve a local or regional e-scrap and information technology asset disposition (ITAD) market.

It is, however, an evolving sector with increased attention to certification processes that can require additional resources to go toward compliance. E-scrap recycling also requires investments in big-ticket processing and sorting equipment and systems to ensure the careful stewardship of information.

As with other recycling sectors, increased compliance costs and attention (along with increased capital expenses for sophisticated equipment) mean firms that ramp up to achieve economies of scale have been formed and are obtaining market share.

Conversations between Recycling Today and representatives from three sizable e-scrap/ITAD firms show these companies have more than one way to grow their geographic footprints and build scale.

Singapore-based TES, a portfolio company of SK ecoplant, has facilities in place to serve most of the world’s largest economies. The company has e-scrap plants with ITAD (and often battery recycling) capabilities in the European Union, the United States and in its home Southeast Asia region.

“TES has built the largest global footprint in the industry, as recognized by [tech industry analyst] Gartner, and using owned/operated facilities has always been our focus,” Chief Commercial Officer Eric Ingebretsen says.

Even with its considerable global presence, TES nonetheless creates alliances to respond to the needs of multinational clients who may do business in more than 100 nations. “Partners are valuable in this space; they are critically important to be able to service geographic areas where we have clients with assets that are in countries where TES has decided not to make strategic investments,” Ingebretsen says.

The Sims Lifecycle Solutions (SLS) business unit of Australia-based Sims Ltd. is another sizable e-scrap and ITAD firm that has taken a global approach. “While SLS has a world-class footprint of owned and operated sites, we do rely on approved and audited subcontractors to augment our global ITAD and data center reuse, redeployment and repurposing Circular Centers,” SLS Chief Commercial Officer Sean Magann says.

John Shegerian, board chairman and CEO of California-based ERI (founded as Electronics Recyclers Inc.), indicated at an online event in late 2020 that his firm consistently seeks to forge such alliances. “Our customers want us to be where they are,” he said at the time.

Shegerian tells Recycling Today his firm now also has an interest in installing some of its own capacity outside the United States. “As we continue to grow, we intend to broaden our footprint and develop a series of ERI-owned locations in strategic geographic areas around the world,” he says.

No matter the division between owned capacity or partnership arrangements, all three companies say the existence of multinational companies with widespread operations has created the need for global networks.

“Because TES has a large global footprint, that dovetails nicely with the 2,000 [customer] organizations that are looking for a globally consistent solution that can mitigate their risks in ways a more patchwork solution cannot,” Ingebretsen says. “At the same time, because TES is local to 23 countries, we commonly engage with local and regional organizations whose needs are geographically smaller in scope.”

Magann sees a steady demand for customers requesting global consistency in service. “The vast majority of clients request global solutions for their ITAD and data center reuse, redeployment and repurposing needs,” he says. “Most clients look to have global solutions.”

Shegerian says ERI’s predominant depth of experience so far has been gained in the U.S., adding, “At present, approximately 75 percent of our work is fully contained in the U.S., while approximately 13 percent involves EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa] operations and 12 percent in the Asia-Pacific market."

As with the other two firms, however, ERI is fielding more global requests. “Many of our customers today are multinational and have specific regional needs for responsible ITAD and electronic recycling services that extend beyond U.S. borders,” Shegerian says. “The requests for global services are increasing on a steady, upward level.”

The e-scrap sector still appears to be a long way from the type of global consolidation that has been witnessed in sectors such as stainless steel scrap recycling or secondary copper production.

While by no means discouraging entrepreneurs, Shegerian sees opportunities in the sector for large companies such as ERI to continue to grow, saying, “We believe our international footprint will continue to expand as the world gets smaller and more and more nations focus on participating in the circular economy.”