ER2 to Expand E-Waste Recycling Operations to Tennessee

ER2 Electronic Responsible Recyclers is expanding operations with the addition of a $1.8 million e-waste recycling facility in Memphis, Tenn.

The company expanded with its second location, in addition to its headquarters in Mesa, Ariz., confirmed co-owner and managing partner Chris Ko in an e-mail. Rick Krug is the other co-owner and managing partner.

ER2 also operates Revive IT, an e-waste recycling firm that refurbishes Fortune 500 companies’ information technology (IT) equipment and distributes it through local direct sales and their website as well as international e-commerce means such as eBay and Amazon. Both operations were launched in 2012.

ER2 said while there are three certified electronic recycling facilities in Memphis, only ER2 is equipped to serve the entire area.

When ER2 destroys a company’s proprietary data, as certified by the National Association of Information Destruction, it refurbishes and repurposes equipment to be remarketed and sold through Revive IT.

“If not done properly, you could easily be breached,” he said. “The quickest and easiest way to get information out of a company is through the things they throw away.”

The majority of ER2’s revenue comes from its product sales, so clients are rarely charged for recycling services, Ko said.

The company purchased a building in Memphis for $395,000 and plans to invest $1.8 million to turn the nearly 100,000-square-foot facility into a certified electronic recycling and refurbishing center, employing 65. ER2 expects to open the facility in October.

Ko said that it is refurbishing the building, which was scheduled for bulldozing, and installing LED lighting throughout that will cut previous electricity use by 50 percent. The building also will use recycled materials during construction.

Tyler Whitney will run the Memphis operations as general manager. ER2 is using the FastTrack Job Training Assistance Program, which pays 50 percent of an employee’s salary during on the job training.

Krug met with Memphis’ Chairman’s Circle, a group of more than 100 business leaders, to examine partnering with them and their vision to make Memphis Clean by 2019.

The electronic waste recycling sector saw expansion in February, as 3S International formed partnerships with several recycling firms as part of its growth plan. The Mount Pleasant, Mich.-based 3S has formed strategic partnerships with IMS Electronics, Kuusakoski Recycling and Valley City Electronic Recycling. The partnerships also will pave the way for 3S to open a new facility in southeast Michigan.