Dive Brief:
- E-Waste Systems Inc. (EWSI) announced a joint venture with Aruls Environmental and Green Ozone Pvt. Ltd. that will increase its electronic waste recycling holdings in the U.S., India, and Asia.
- Aruls Environmental and Green Ozone (AEGOPL), headquartered in Tamil Nadu, India, will work to develop and expand reverse logistics operations.
- The deal is continent upon an initial investment from AEGOPL of $750,000, with an additional $1.75 million to grow EWSI’s e-waste facility in New York and to acquire new capital equipment.
Dive Insight:
The investment will be used to purchase a public company that will be integral in establishing AEGOPL’s presence in the U.S., and the companies plan to start a regional e-waste recycling and environment firm in India. Analysts expect the global electronic recycling market will be worth an estimated $41.36 billion by 2019.
EWSI’s New York facility expansion comes at a time when a state e-waste law, the Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, is poised to take effect. Regional and statewide programs are experiencing challenges in keeping up with the growing pace of e-waste- even recyclers are facing closure due to unmanageable operating costs.
Although collection programs have been put in place, the issue is that the substantial volumes of e-waste are too large, placing a burden on many sites, and, in some cases, forcing them to shut down due to exceeding established limits.