eLoop Works to Keep Electronic Waste Out of Landfills - The Green Voice

April 27, 2021

Recycling remains a challenge for many in Pittsburgh and throughout  Pennsylvania. While a truck may come to pick up various plastic  containers, paper, and glass, there are no guarantees that those items  will be recycled due a number of factors ranging from market demand to  contamination. Then there's the added struggle to keep electronics out  of landfills, as public waste management programs often don't collect  these items.

This is where private companies like eLoop comes in.  Founded in 2008, eLoop, which is based out of Export, Pa., provides  recycling services to companies trying to find environmentally  responsible ways to unload their hardware, computer monitors, and other  IT equipment.

The company now serves over 400 clients in  Pennsylvania, stretching as far as Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Lancaster,  York, and Harrisburg. They also have a second office location in State  College.

But working with corporate clients means reassuring them  that any information stored on hard drives, phones, and other gadgets  won't be compromised. For this, eLoop provides a service that allows  clients to track when any stored data is destroyed.

"As we've  continued to grow and mature, we spend the majority of our time working  with corporations that are looking to work with an environmentally  compliant company like eLoop, that will protect their data," says eLoop  president and CEO Ned Eldridge. "So, they have no data risk, and then  can also take care of refurbishing and remarketing their devices, so  they can get an extended return on investment from their original  purchase price."

Eldridge says that, from 2008 until 2014, eLoop's  focus was on handling residential electronic waste, but believed they  could make a much larger and noticeable impact by acquiring corporate  assets, then upcycling or refurbishing and reselling them. He adds that  eLoop has an active group of wholesale buyers for its products, as well  as retail buyers on online selling platforms like eBay and Amazon.

Eldridge  credits the idea for eLoop to his previous work re-manufacturing and  distributing aftermarket automatic transmission parts. This brought him  to the recycling of electronics, which he says bears a lot of  similarities to his previous business, as, like car parts, electronics  are often "tied to a make and model."

"At the same time, I started  worrying about things like sustainability, and understanding,  recycling, reuse, some of these things are now part of the fabric of our  business," Eldridge explains.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, has  become an increasingly larger concern as consumers are urged to buy the  latest upgraded smartphones, laptops, and other devices. Last year, the  United Nations Environment Program released its Global E-Waste Monitor report, which  found that a record 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste were generated  in 2019. The report went on to say the growth of e-waste is "mainly  fueled by higher consumption rates of EEE [Electrical and Electronic  Equipment]," with consumer devices offering "short life cycles'' and  "few repair options."

Also detailed in the report is that the  whereabouts of the e-waste is largely unknown. On a global scale, around  17.4% of the accumulated 2019 e-waste was recycled, and 8% ended up in  landfills or incinerated.

Even with that knowledge, many areas lack sufficient e-waste pickup and recycling. For example, while Pennsylvania adopted the Covered Device Recycling Act in  2010, which, according to the state Department of Environmental  Protection, "requires manufacturers to provide recycling programs for  desktop computers, laptop computers, computer monitors, computer  peripherals and televisions sold to consumers in Pennsylvania," Eldridge  says it comes up short.

"It's a very dysfunctional law," says  Eldridge, adding that it gives the power to manufacturers to determine  the amount of material they would collect, and opposed to just  retrieving all of it.

While the Pittsburgh Department of Public Works does offer e-waste drop-off and curbside pickup services through its Electronic and Household Hazardous Waste Recycling Program, common items like televisions, computers, and other electronic devices are banned from being set out.

This  is where companies like eLoop can fill in the gaps. Eldridge estimates  that last year, eLoop "brought about 8 million pounds of electronics,  out of the communities, whether it be corporate or residential, and less  than 2% of that ended up in a landfill."

While eLoop focused  mainly on corporate e-waste, it also provides drop-off services for  residents discarding televisions, laptops, video game consoles, and  other items, which the company will recycle for free or for a fee.

Eldridge says eLoop also works closely with and promotes organizations like the Pennsylvania Resources Council, a nonprofit that regularly hosts collection events and other resources for hard-to-recycle items and material reuse.

Mostly, though, Eldridge believes eLoop at least gives companies another option to safely and sustainably deal with e-waste.

"When  you look at a private entity like ours, we pretty much can define what  our limits are as far as what we're going to take and what we're not  going to take," says Eldridge. "They don't know how to get rid of  something.

We have the resources to figure it out. So, we always go the  extra mile to make sure we help them do the right thing with their  products.