E-Waste News and Updates
ITAD Now and Then
The industry has demonstrated a level of resilience—and an ability to adapt—that has exceeded even the expectations of those closest to it. The information technology asset disposition (ITAD) and electronics recycling sectors are now navigating one of the most transformative periods in their history. What began decades ago as a largely back-end service centered on end-of-life hardware disposal has evolved into a sophisticated, global ecosystem. Today, ITAD is deeply embedded in enterprise IT strategy, regulatory compliance, data security, ESG performance, commodity recovery, and even critical infrastructure investment.
This evolution reflects broader shifts in how organizations view technology assets—not as sunk costs to be discarded, but as resources to be optimized, secured, and reintegrated into the circular economy. Heightened regulatory scrutiny, accelerating technology refresh cycles, and growing investor and customer expectations around sustainability have elevated ITAD from an operational necessity to a strategic function. As a result, service providers are being asked to deliver more transparency, measurable value recovery, and risk mitigation than ever before.
Looking ahead, these pressures will only intensify. The sector is experiencing rapid expansion alongside meaningful consolidation, as scale, compliance sophistication, and capital access become competitive differentiators. For executives, this moment presents both opportunity and risk in equal measure: opportunity to unlock new revenue streams, improve ESG outcomes, and strengthen governance—and risk for those unable to adapt to increasing complexity, margin pressure, and regulatory demand. The organizations that succeed next will be those that treat ITAD not as a cost center, but as a strategic lever for resilience, value creation, and long-term growth.
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SB 54 Reform
CalRecycle has withdrawn its proposed regulations for implementing California’s Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (SB 54), signaling a recalibration rather than a retreat from the law’s objectives. In a notice distributed late in the afternoon on January 9, the agency indicated that the regulations will be revised to improve clarity, address stakeholder concerns, and better align the rulemaking with practical implementation realities.
According to CalRecycle, the forthcoming revisions will focus primarily on food and agricultural commodities—categories that have raised complex questions around compliance, material definitions, and operational feasibility. These sectors represent some of the most challenging aspects of SB 54, given their reliance on specialized packaging, contamination concerns, and existing supply chain constraints.
Importantly, CalRecycle emphasized that statutory deadlines established under SB 54 remain unchanged. Covered entities should not interpret the withdrawal as a delay in compliance expectations, but rather as an effort to strengthen the regulatory framework before final adoption. To support this process, the agency plans to open an additional 15-day public comment period, providing stakeholders another opportunity to review and respond to the revised language. Specific dates for this comment window have not yet been announced
AI in E-Waste
The e-waste industry has historically operated in a reactive mode—stepping in only once technology reaches the end of its useful life, when value has already eroded and risk is at its highest. As global technology adoption accelerates, this reactive posture is becoming increasingly unsustainable. According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2024, worldwide e-waste generation is projected to rise another 32%, reaching approximately 82 million tonnes by 2030. This trajectory underscores not only the scale of the challenge, but the speed at which retired technology is accumulating across every sector of the economy.
At the same time, the nature of IT itself is changing. Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming embedded in enterprise operations—from infrastructure management and cybersecurity to procurement and lifecycle planning. As AI reshapes how organizations deploy and manage technology, it is also beginning to influence how they think about electronic recycling and IT asset disposition (ITAD). What was once a downstream, compliance-driven activity is increasingly viewed through a strategic lens that emphasizes foresight, data integrity, and lifecycle optimization.
In the years ahead, AI has the potential to fundamentally shift the e-waste and ITAD landscape—from reactive cleanup to proactive, intelligence-led decision-making. By improving forecasting accuracy, enhancing material traceability, and aligning asset disposition with enterprise IT planning, AI-driven tools could make the industry more predictable, transparent, and economically efficient. More importantly, they offer a pathway to better align recycling outcomes with how technology is designed, deployed, and retired across its full lifecycle.
Below are several ways AI could help the e-waste industry move beyond end-of-life reaction and toward more planned, data-driven outcomes in the years ahead—benefiting manufacturers, enterprises, recyclers, and regulators alike.
