Technology engineering is just now catching up with circular economic thinking so new devices from global brands are greener, leaner and more economic, compliant and efficient. Smartphones, tablets, displays and PCs are being conceptualized, designed, prototyped, built — even rebuilt — with recycling front of mind so valuable components and raw materials that would otherwise go to landfill are re-entering the supply chain in volume.
Supporting this development is global reverse supply chain management firm, Re-Teck. The Redwood City, California firm services many of the major consumer electronics and technology brands providing a range of strategic services, including:
- Design consultancy at the concept/manufacturing phase;
- Take-back support at retail;
- Disassembly and harvesting of components/materials in the post-consumer phase;
- Privacy protection and data security on the devices;
- Closed loop or remarketing of components/materials;
- Compliance documentation and support.
“The race for the latest and greatest technologies has left casualties along the way,” stated Edward Kayden, Senior. Director, Business Development, Re-Teck. “We’re enabling OEMs, telcos and retailers to operate in a more environmentally-friendly manner with a more economically viable, code-compliant model while extracting value from resources they’d otherwise pay fees for to send to landfill.”
Re-Teck is an engineering organization at its core. With over 1,200 employees at 20+ facilities and administration centers, Re-Teck is staffed by senior engineers from the telecommunications, industrial and consumer electronics domains. Re-Teck engineers enable brands to design products that can later be disassembled and the components re-used in other devices; its reverse supply chain professionals will find new markets for the components and raw materials, and its legal and program management teams ensure the highest levels of compliance, data security and brand/process integrity.
Engineering Plastics
Carbon, magnesium and other additives make engineering plastics more robust, lighter and more useful in the manufacture of consumer electronics. These plastics are difficult to break down and so must be harvested by Re-Teck, then re-compounded and re-used by original suppliers (only a few of which exist in the world). Otherwise the additives make their way into the supply chain of plastics recyclers, which is not advisable.
Lithium
Lithium is a reactive and flammable alkali metal used in the production of lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are widely used in consumer electronics devices and can be harvested and either re-purposed in closed loop applications for use in similar devices, re-marketed for re-use in other applications, or recycled and the raw material used in brand new applications/devices.
Cobalt
Cobalt is also widely used in lithium-ion batteries primarily in mobile phones, but increasingly in electric cars. As a consequence, the demand for and the price of cobalt has increased significantly in the past five years. Couple this with the significant humanitarian and political issues attached to mining cobalt and recycling cobalt is an ever-more-compelling proposition.
“Optimizing the supply chain, managing the brand, sustaining innovation are critical strategic issues that business leaders must address,” Kayden continued. “Our global organization of engineering, supply chain and compliance professionals is uniquely equipped to support the world’s leading technology brands with the most comprehensive and highly-evolved solutions.”
About Li Tong Group & Re-Teck
Re-Teck is a subsidiary of Li Tong Group (LTG). LTG is the global market leader in Reverse Supply Chain Management (RSCM) solutions for OEMs, enterprises, government, and consumers for the reuse, remanufacture and recovery (3R) of both Post-Industrial Recovery (PIR) and Post-Consumer Recycling (PCR) and hi-tech products and components including mobile devices, smart devices, big-data network and telecom equipment. In the past 18 years, LTG has developed a global network of 20+ wholly owned facilities across North America, APAC, EU, MEA and Latin America, which currently serves more than 100 customers and employs more than 1,200 people worldwide. It has an extensive patent portfolio for innovative methods and automated systems of digital processing and reclamation technologies.