First US e-scrap facility with BLUBOX technology

United States – US electronics recycler 3S International has opened its first e-scrap processing plant using BLUBOX technology. Several more such facilities are planned by the firm over the next three years.

The initial 740 sq. metre plant at Tinley Park in the state of Illinois has the capacity to handle nearly 7000 tonnes of e-scrap per year. The facility is claimed to house the country’s only BLUBOX unit for reducing electronics into recyclable fragments and for safely extracting rare earth elements. 3S is the only company in the USA with the rights to use this technology.

Gina Yob, vice president of sales and marketing at 3S International, comments: ‘Each year in the US, millions of tonnes of electronics are thrown away and up to 80% of the electronics given to recyclers end up either being re-sold, shipped overseas or sent to a landfill. This practice seriously and adversely affects communities and the environment, and also poses security risks to the data that electronic equipment contains. Our process shreds the electronics into their component materials. We do not landfill or resell.’

3S is already collecting and receiving end-of-life electronics throughout the US states of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. With the first facility fully operational, 3S is now seeking its next location; the company aims to open six to 10 facilities in the USA over the next three years.

For more information, visit: www.3srecycling.com