A UK manufacturing firm which claims it can “turn e-waste from a liability into an asset” is hunting for clients in the IT space.
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen for our newly launched Second Life Hub, In2tec Commercial Director Emma Armstrong admitted that the market was until recently “not ready” for its patented ReUSE and ReCYCLE technology.
First developed 15 years ago, the technology is finally gaining traction as vendor and contract manufacturers begin to wake up to the benefits of developing more circular products, Armstrong said.
The scale of the e-waste issue was laid bare by a recent UN report. It suggested e-waste volumes are continuing to rise, with recycling rates set to fall.
She billed ReUSE and ReCYCLE as the only solution to deliver a mechanism for “completely removing components and substrates at the end of life”.
“There’s no one else in the world that can do this,” she said.
With revenues of about £5m, In2tec has been around since 2001 in its current guise and for 45 years in total.
“We’ve got credibility and authority because we’ve not just popped up with this opportunity to provide a solution for circularity with no experience of how to make things,” Armstrong said.
How does it work?
Removing components from substrates that have been manufactured using traditional processes is problematic, with 90% of components rendered unviable for reuse, Armstrong claimed.
“You have to use either really high heat, or mechanical force, or a combination of both, so the cost of doing it completely outweighs the gain,” she said.
“Lots of companies tried during Covid to buy white goods and desolder them to get the chips they needed to continue manufacturing the vehicles. But despite all that time and effort, the components weren’t viable for reuse.
“We’re getting a lot of traction because our technology delivers just that. You don’t need to mine resources. We can take apart anything that’s been made with the reuse materials.”
Although the components within a laptop are manufactured to withstand at least 25 years of useable life, the expected lifecycle of a laptop itself could be five years or less, Armstrong said.
“If you manufacture a laptop with ReUSE conductive adhesives, then at the end of its useful life HP, let’s say, would be able to take that back and it’s now an asset,” she said.
“Currently, it’s a liability. They have to pay e-waste charges and pay PCS compliance schemes to manage the end-of-life processing. “
In2tec’s solution will “add massively” to the bottom line of OEMs or contract manufacturers, and even enable them to incentivise customers to return devices or gadgets, Armstrong claimed.
“Now they can take 85% of the components off the board with ultra-low energy, they will want to get the laptops back. They now have components back that are both cost free and carbon free, and they can go on to make another three or four models from those components,” she said.
“Our technology delivers positive to the bottom line, because ultimately we’re turning the e-waste liability into an asset.”
15 years in the making
Although In2tec currently uses its ReUSE technology in five products it manufacturers inhouse, it is yet to license the technology to any clients in the IT space, Armstrong conceded.
“We’re inviting people to engage with us and do proof of concepts,” she said.
“Let’s make something of yours and then you can take some and test them. Then we can take them apart, put them back together again, and you test them again.
“The proof is in the pudding with new technology.”
Not that the technology is actually ‘new’, with Armstrong joining In2tec 15 years ago because of its ReUSE and ReCYCLE offering.
“It was developed 15 years ago, but the world wasn’t ready,” she said.
“I’ve been able to wear my sustainable electronics ambassador hat full-time really for the last two years,” she concluded.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
