Sims Expands Electronics Recycling to Mobile Devices

Sims Recycling Solutions has expanded its electronic recycling and asset management to include mobile devices.

The Chicago-based Sims said in a news release it has hired staff at its West Chicago facility to grade, test and repair mobile devices, including feature phones, smartphones and tablets.

To address two problems of the used mobile device market, Sims reached an agreement with CheckMEND, a used electronics information house, and developed a pricing evaluation system called Price Base. Through the partnership, Sims can assure customers that devices offered for resale are legitimate.

“Our customers can be confident that the same secure, certified and environmentally sound procedures we use to process other electronics will be used to refurbish, remarket and recycle their mobile devices,” said Steve Skurnac, president of Sims Recycling Solutions, Americas.

Worldwide smartphone shipments totaled 216.2 million units in the first quarter of 2013, according to a report from Farmingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp. By contrast, personal computer shipments for the quarter totaled only 76.3 units.