Government regulations to divert electronics waste from landfills have shown an interesting and unintended turn. “Take-back” programs promoted by state and federal environmental advocates have been successful in diverting more than 290,000 tons of e-waste away from landfills and toward responsible recyclers each year. However, these programs have also promoted electronics hoarding. The demand for…
A recent study by the U.S. Trade Commission on e-waste disposal and exportation, a sensitive topic in the e-scrap industry, provided some thought-provoking data. The study involved surveying 5,200 refurbishers, recycling companies, brokers, information technology asset managers and others that were legally required to respond regarding their exporting activities. HOBI International Inc participated in the survey.…
Today one of the two House landfill diversion bills (HB648 and HB1436) and will be heard in the House Environmental Regulation Committee, both would require more regulation and a collections program for large retailers to reduce the amount of e-waste generated in the waste stream. A February 2013 study by the Coalition of American Electronics…
Successful data erasure starts at home! At least, that is what the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) is trying to convey to the public. NAID’s new campaign, “NAID ’em,” plans to utilize social media and web outlets in hopes to further educate the public in the practice of proper data security and appropriately define…
BYOD programs have caused a substantial shift in leverage over employee devices once possessed by IT departments. The days of employees treading lightly around IT department gurus in fear of being stuck with an ancient laptop on its last leg are dwindling. Since bring your own device (BYOD) programs have made their debut in companies, IT departments…
Lasers and vaporizers can’t kill these chips! Researchers at Caltech have been testing a special component embedded in microchips that are capable of self-healing, making them less susceptible to damage from environmental conditions and other harmful impacts. They found that their chips could fix themselves and keep on working even after being blasted by lasers.…
