Profile: Steve Hopwood, CEO & Founder P4C Global, Chatsworth, Ca.

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EWJ: Explain to our readers who P4C Global is. What do you do?

P4C Global is a privately held California based electronics recycler focusing on the wireless recycling.

We specialize in the procurement and redistribution of OEM cellular batteries, phones and accessories. I started the company in 2002, after the success of another venture, Phones 4 Charity, which recycles cellular phones retired by corporations and individuals while raising millions of dollars for our charity partners.

EWJ: Who are your clients?

P4C Global works with larger corporations, individuals, wireless dealers, wireless stores and wireless service providers such as AT&T. We also work with schools, religious institutions and electronic recyclers who are seeking a reliable partner in the disposal of their unwanted or surplus wireless inventories.

EWJ: Can you quantify how much volume you did last year?

Last year we prevented over 4 million new & used lithium ion batteries as well as 5 million handsets from entering landfills. We have processed more than 10 million handsets over the years and earned millions of dollars for our charity partners.

EWJ: Wow, that’s amazing! How do you raise so much money for your charity partners?

Our charity partners collect used handsets and batteries from their donor base and we pay them competitive prices for their collected handsets. It’s an innovative fundraising method much easier and rewarding than selling girls scout cookies or other conventional fundraising methods.

EWJ: How have you achieved such success?

It’s simple. We have a great team, our superior customer service and pay the most competitive buy back prices in the industry for collected handsets. We now have several thousands of collection partners nationwide and work with leading electronics recyclers

to earn maximum revenue for wireless handsets in their inventory. One of our brands, “Justcellular” is now the leading reseller of no-contract wireless handsets on auction website, eBay.

EWJ: The wireless recycling industry is a rather crowded and competitive field. What distinguished  P4C Global from the competition?

We are probably the only wireless recycler in the nation that has earned ISO: 9001 & ISO: 14001 certification.

Our competitors focus on fancy websites but we really just put our money in utilizing the best technologies such as our rather expensive cadex equipment for testing batteries and assuring top quality assurance for our clients.

Our team consists of industry veterans who understand the dynamics of wireless recycling. We have also started

the process to earn R2 certification to further establish our credibility as an industry leader and environmentally responsible recycler.

EWJ: Do you care to disclose your revenues in the past years and a forecast for this year?

P4C global grossed $14 million dollars in 2010. This was an increase from $10 million in 2009. This year we expect to gross over $17 million reselling OEM batteries and wireless handsets.

EWJ: What are some of the challenges you face as an executive and business owner at P4C Global?

Our biggest challenge is growth capital. Like any other business, we can do so much more with more capital. My vision is to have a larger market share and over more options and ease for the general public to recycle their unwanted wireless handsets accessories and batteries. We will like to get more grassroots organizations such as schools and churches involved in the recycling of wireless phones they no longer need.

EWJ: Are you open to receiving growth capital from private equity firms and/or venture capitalists?

Truthfully, we have been approached by several investors but prefer to grow our company organically. However, under the right circumstance and scenarios, we are very open to more investment capital to achieve our objectives as an organization.

EWJ: You mentioned your certifications earlier. What are some of the benefits you’ve earned from certification?

Certification has gained us access to significant business development opportunities with large clients such as AT&T wireless. They feel much more comfortable doing business with a company that is audited and adapts best e-waste management practices. We have also improved some of our processes and reduced operational costs due to our ISO certification.

EWJ: What’s next for you and your company?

More growth. We are working extremely hard to reduce the amount of phones sitting idle collecting dust in drawers, closets and storage facilities across the country, We are also working on a new venture, batteryliquidators.com that will allow consumers in the general public with a more affordable source for replacement OEM batteries. We are also looking forward to the International Electronics Recycling Conference & Expo.

It’s such a fun conference and provides us with an interactive forum to meet with electronic recyclers who are an integral component in our business model and goals.

EWJ: What is most rewarding about your job?

That’s a great question. The most rewarding thing is the fact that we have built a lucrative business that involves helping others yet we are still stewards of the environment. I also feel satisfaction from helping our clients find a use for their unwanted or presumed obsolete equipment which provide an alternative means of communication to people in financially distressed parts of the United States and other parts of the world. There are billions of phones out there and we play an important role in ensuring they do not end

up in landfills.

E-waste should not be wasted

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Commentary by Amanda Smith-Teutsch | Electronic Waste Journal

In a study released last week, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries reports the total scrap recycling industry – including metals, glass, fibers, plastics, and paper, amongst other materials – contributes $90.6 billion to the U.S. economy each year.

Electronics recycling is a small, but growing, part of this impact. The same trade organization, earlier this year, released the initial results of a study on U.S. e-waste recycling and found the industry has already grown from less than $1 billion in 2002 to $5 billion in 2010 in the country. At its conference in May, ISRI said the industry could grow to $8 or $10 billion in the coming years.

What is needed to make sure the electronics recycling industry continues on this path of growth? A positive legislative environment is one step in that direction. Since 2002, 25 states have passed some form of electronics recycling mandate, banning electronics from landfills and usually holding manufacturers responsible for funding their recycling.

A recently announced federal initiative hopes to voluntarily increase electronics recycling. But such voluntary efforts don’t often have the same impact as jurisdictions where the force of law dictates electronics’ end-of-life management. The increasing number of states with electronics recycling mandates is likely one of the driving forces behind this growth, along with public interest and voluntary manufacturer environmental responsibilities.

The U.S. EPA estimates that in 2009, of the 2.5 million short tons of e-waste generated in the country, about 25 percent was recycled.

That’s criminal.

That means that in 2009, the U.S. electronics recycling industry didn’t have access to 1,875,000 short tons of electronics, which instead now sit languishing in landfills, where the valuable commodities of aluminum, copper, plastics, and precious metals are lost forever.

In 8 years, the electronics recycling industry has grown from providing 6,000 full time jobs in the U.S. to 30,000. Imagine the economic impact if e-waste recycling was incentivized throughout the entire U.S., and not just half of it.

Official government photos of e-waste announcement at Round2 in Austin.

 

R2 may change in face of Intercon situation

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The Intercon scandal, which now is being litigated in court, presented a unique challenge for R2 Solutions and the Responsible Recycling standard – what to do when a certified recycler is accused of massive wrongdoing. The challenge – and the response so far – could lead to significant changes in how the certification is administered, R2 Solutions’ board of directors said.

At the time, R2 Solutions, which administers the R2 standard, removed, or in their words “delisted” the company from the directory of R2-certified recyclers.

Now, the R2 board of directors has sent a letter to the Technical Advisory Committee, requesting help in developing policies and procedures in dealing with similar crises if and when they arise in the future.

“We, the R2 Solutions Board of Directors, believe it is essential that both the Board and the TAC do everything in our collective means to maintain and strengthen the integrity of the R2 Standard. R2 is a new brand and industry opinion is still unsettled about whether it firmly demands and demonstrates responsible recycling. We must do everything we can to ensure that it does.”

The board said it would explore, and maybe implement, changes to R2 and how it is administered.

This includes strong language laying out precisely what is required of certified recyclers an certifying bodies auditing the recyclers.

“Certifying bodies should be able to act decisively if it appears that a requirement is not being met—at any point during the three-year certification cycle. And R2 Solutions needs to be able to work collaboratively with the CBs in these instances,” the board of directors write in their letter.

A policy for dealing with non-conformances must be put in place, the board wrote, that will:

  • Fully protect the integrity of the R2 standard while providing due process to the facility,
  • Articulates the role and responsibilities of the certifying bodies, and
  • Describes the actions R2 Solutions will take in such situations.

In the letter, the R2 Solutions board of directors seeks guidance and input from R2 stakeholders.

Current members of the R2 Solutions board are:

John DeVillars, who works in the area of renewable energy as Managing Partner of BlueWave Capital.  The Regional Administrator for New England during President Clinton’s EPA, he served as co-Chair of EPA’s national Common Sense Initiative Advisory Group for the electronics industry.

John Howard is currently working as an independent public policy consultant after a distinguished career in the field of law.  During the Bush Administration, he served as the Federal Environmental Executive and went on to chair EPA’s National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology.

John Lingelbach is a nationally-recognized environmental mediator who is currently serving as Acting Executive Director of R2 Solutions. From 2006 through 2008, he facilitated the multi-stakeholder development of the R2 Practices.

Pete Regan is currently working with private-equity backed companies and with several non-profits. Previously, he served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of ERM, Inc., the world’s leading global provider of EHS, risk and social consulting services.

Lynn Rubinstein is the Executive Director of the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) for the past 11 years. NERC’s mission is to advance an environmentally sustainable economy by promoting source and toxicity reduction, recycling, and the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services.

 

Building off of environmental track record, LG is now an e-Steward

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LG Electronics is being touted the first “Global e-Stewards Enterprise,” following down the path set by Alcoa in which non-recyclers formally commit to the e-Stewards standard.

“This is historic,” said Basel Action Network Executive Director Jim Puckett. “To have a company like LG, with more than 90,000 employees working in 120 operations on five continents, embrace the e-Stewards program around the world will not only significantly protect human health and the environment from toxic pollution but will raise the profile of the e-Stewards internationally.   It speaks volumes about LG’s commitment to environmental leadership.”

In becoming an e-Stewards enterprise, LG committed to responsible recycling of its electronic waste and choosing to use e-Stewards Certified electronics recyclers worldwide, Puckett said.

Through its U.S. takeback programs in 2010, LG recycled more than 8 million pounds of home electronic products.

“LG has always been committed to providing consumers the highest quality products available while reducing the environmental impacts of the manufacturing and use of those products,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, president and chief technology officer, LG Electronics, Inc.  “Our partnership with BAN and e-Stewards demonstrates LG’s equal commitment to reducing the impacts of products at the end of their life.”

Currently, there are e-Stewards Recyclers in the United States, Mexico and the UK with several in progress in Canada.

“Sustainability is a core value at LG,” said Wayne Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics USA. “From our ambitious carbon reduction commitments, to our industry-leading efforts to bring high efficiency ENERGY STAR® qualified products to market, to our support for environmental efforts around the world, reducing environmental impact, while enhancing consumers’ lives through innovation.”


G’s new CINEMA 3D TV rewrites the rules for 3D

E-World Online, Earth911 announce new e-waste awareness program

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E-World Online and Earth911 have created a new partnership to drive consumers to Earth911’s recycling database when they purchase new electronics.

Manufacturers participating in E-World Online’s Manufacturer Interstate Takeback System (MITS) will be able to label their packages and products for e-waste recycling, guiding more consumers to local options via the Earth911 Recycling Directory.

“By placing Earth911 messaging directly on their product, a manufacturer provides a branded call to action that their consumers can use right away to find recycling locations in their own community,” said Earth911 President, Corey Lambrecht. “The continuity of this new partnership takes a major burden off manufacturers and allows them to keep focus on their core businesses.”

“When it comes to protecting our environment one of the most important things we can do is empower consumers to maximize their own recycling efforts,” said E-World Online president, Cindy Erie. “Partnering with Earth911 will allow us to continue providing our manufacturer clients the comprehensive services necessary to ensure their compliance with state recycling regulations, while helping them to seamlessly integrate consumer education.”

For more on E-World Online, visit www.e-worldonline.com. For more on Earth911, visit www.earth911.com.

E-waste weight, amount to decrease in coming years, association reports

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The Consumer Electronics Association, which is in the midst of a public campaign to increase electronics recycling in the U.S., has issued a series of reports touching on the environmental impact of consumer electronics. The most recent notes that flat panel TVs and monitors are smaller and lighter than their CRT counterparts.

The group’s report, Materials Footprint Reduction of Televisions and Computer Monitors: 2004-2010 establishes flat-panel TVs are 82 percent lighter and 75 percent smaller than cathode ray tube TVs of comparable screen size.

“The staggering reductions in materials in TVs and computer monitors have real and lasting environmental benefit

s, from the supply chain through recycling and disposal,” said Walter Alcorn, CEA vice president of environmental affairs and industry sustainability. “Dramatically lighter and smaller TVs and monitors reduce the amount of resources needed to manufacture the product, and slash the amount of required packaging and fuel used to transport these products. Furthermore, the sunsetting of CRT TVs is vastly reducing the amount of electronics to be recycled.”

Further reducing the weight of e-waste to be recycled is the trend of consolidation of various electronic device functions into one product. Earlier this spring, the CEA reported in its 13th Annual Household CE Ownership and Market Potential Study that the number of electronic devices per household declined to 24 this year from 25 in 2010, in part because device functions are consolidating.

Other data reported in the Materials Footprint document includes the fact that while an old 36-inch CRT TV generated about the same amount of electronics waste as 5,080 cell phones, today’s 70-inch flat-screen TV generates the equivalent of just 953 cell phones, and a 30-inch flat-panel computer monitor’s weight is equivalent to 211 mobile phones.

“The report illustrates a measurable, positive environmental impact new technologies have made in reducing the materials footprint of consumer electronics products,” Alcorn concluded. “We expect the trend of ever-shrinking electronics to continue, whether it’s a 70-inch TV or a handheld device.”

The study was conducted by Pike Research on behalf of CEA.

The eCycling Leadership Initiative, an industry led effort to recycle one billion pounds of electronics annually by 2016, coordinated by CEA, set measurement and transparency as one of its key principles along with bolstering consumer education of eCycling and increasing the number of recycling locations and infrastructure needed to reach the one billion-pound annual target. CEA said the Materials Footprint report is the first in a planned series of technical reports on issues relating to end-of-life electronics.
The Consumer Electronics Association represents more than 2,000 companies in the $186 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. For more information visit CE.org.