70% of Electronics Firms Recycle, According to CEA Report

According to a report recently released by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) where 64 leading consumer electronics companies were interviewed, nearly 70 percent of all electronics firms recycle.

Of the organizations polled, “the exemplary companies are using dramatically fewer resources and are making genuine efforts to ‘close loops’ by taking back products and selling their unusable materials to other companies.”

At least half the companies interviewed by CEA are diverting 80 percent or more of their unusable materials from landfills, with some organizations diverting up to 98 percent. Waste materials are recycled or sold to partners who use them as feedstock for their own operations.

Of the companies in the study, 20 of the largest (by market share) are looking for ways to reduce waste, conserve resources and shrink product size. CEA estimated that “nearly 600 million tons of used electronics products have been recycled by these top 20 companies alone.”

The report also notes that improved designs have enabled the production of products that require less packaging, contain fewer harmful chemicals and allow for increased usability, recycling, and energy conservation.