Industry Trends and Reflections from the 2025 E-Scrap Conference in Texas

Brought to you by IBEC Intelligence

The 2025 E-Scrap conference took place October 27-29 in Grapevine (Dallas area), Texas.  It was held at the Gaylord Texan.

IBEC’s President and Founder Bardia Vahidi attended the conference along with our CMO Jasmine Martirossian.  It was a fantastic opportunity to spend time with clients, share insights and perspectives with industry experts, as well as meet new people.  Bardia was also a part of the Workshop on Certification 101 led by the RIOS Executive Director Shannon Fertitta.

The buzz of excitement was palpable, and it wasn’t just caused by the strong Starbucks coffee that Gaylord Texan served throughout the conference.

Nearly 1,000 industry professionals from varied areas, including, electronics recycling, ITAD, policy, manufacturing, compliance, and material recovery had an opportunity to exchange idea and inspire one another towards taking action to, ultimately, advance sustainability for our planet.

If we are to use an overarching word that would describe the overall mood of the conference and the panels, it would be “Optimism.”  While everyone acknowledged the challenges facing the industry, there was a shared feeling that awareness is growing along with the determination to find solutions.  Massive change is underway, and the consensus was that the pace of change is accelerating.

From the opening session to the final standing ovation that closed out the conference it was clear that the future of e-scrap and ITAD belongs to organizations that embrace complexity, invest in resilience, build systems and frameworks, increase compliance, live up and exceed the requirements of the certifications they achieve, as well as rethink what’s possible in recovery and reuse.

The conference opened with a sweeping view of macro forces reshaping electronics recovery. Between geopolitical shifts, data center expansion, AI hardware refresh cycles, and domestic sourcing mandates, material streams are changing with the attendant urgency to capture them responsibly.

Leaders emphasized that e-scrap has evolved far beyond collection and recycling.  Nowadays, it’s primarily about:

• Supply chains built on traceability

• Materials recovered for domestic reuse

• Product lifecycles extended through repair and reuse

• Security guaranteed at every endpoint

This shift in approach and thinking was also reflected in sessions focused on product design.  Panels of manufacturers and recyclers agreed the industry is finally moving upstream.  And this is influencing how devices are built, disassembled, modularized, and recovered.  There is also greater push by states to pass “right to repair” laws, which will extend the product lifecycle.

One of the recurring themes during the conference was that the materials themselves are changing.  Everyone is now talking of rare earths.  In the past, it was a topic that was floated in very narrow circles, while now it has gone mainstream.  The same goes for solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, and e-plastics.  Each of these materials and products presents a mix of logistical hurdles, compliance complexity, and massive opportunity.

And while the industry has historically talked about “value,” this year’s conversations brough up “risk” quite a bit.  Risk is present in so many areas, including fire hazards from batteries, global trade ambiguity, and the importance of transparent downstream accountability.

There is a shift also in the mentality on what recycling challenges mean.  The thinking has moved to embrace that “hard-to-recycle doesn’t mean impossible.”  It means the companies who innovate fastest will define the next decade.Panelists also talked about the accelerating pace of mergers and acquisitions within the industry.  This is a clear trend.  In fact, private equity interest in ITAD and electronics recycling continues to grow.  This drives consolidation, reshaping the market positioning of leaders and how they compete.   Scale now matters more than ever.  At the same time, experts spoke of the need to differentiate the businesses.

Panelists offered three paths for companies that are intent on consistent growth:

1. Scale through strategic acquisitions

2. Double down on specializing in high-value niche areas

3. Invest in service models that elevate reuse over raw recycling

Issues of policy and compliance took center stage throughout the conference.  Panelists focused on increased needs for achieving certification.  They also brought up the Basel Convention Export Rules, various types of legislation (e.g., right to repair) that is making its way through state legislative bodies, U.S. federal priorities and emerging EPR policies.  In short, regulatory discussions dominated every day.

The overall tenor of discussions was much more about the mindset shift that greater regulation is needed to protect the environment.  There was overall agreement that:

• Compliance can no longer be reactive

• Chain-of-custody is now a competitive differentiator

• Policy fluency is a business skill, not just a legal one

• Accountability extends well beyond national borders

• Achieving third-party certifications helps businesses validate that they walk the talk

In a world where we see an increase in ISO 27001 certifications, it was interesting to hear the cybersecurity panelists which brought together law enforcement representatives, insurers, and ITAD providers.  The consensus was that data risk is now operational risk.

The themes of resilience and adaptability also permeated the discussions at the conference.  Experts across a variety of panels agreed that the industry is going through massive disruption, as we speak.  And this means that only resilient and adaptable organizations will survive into the future.  The word “uncertainty” came up a lot.  So did the word “opportunity.”  The current state of flu presents a distinct opportunity in itself.  It's an opportunity to:

• Recover critical materials at scale

• Redesign how electronics enter and exit the economy

• Protect data and the environment in one unified workflow

• Build systems where sustainability and profitability strengthen each other

The conference closed fittingly with “Legends of Recycling,” where industry pioneers reflected on the early days of e-scrap.  Their personal stories, which were moving and inspirational, showed that current leaders stand on the shoulders of those who pioneered this industry.  Hearing their stories showed how they had been scrappy, enterprising, and visionary all at once.  In fact, this industry has been founded on reinvention and it continues.  The only thing that has changed more is that it’s now become global, and the pace of change has accelerated.  One thing that is consistent is that the relations between people make a difference in how we collaborate, innovate and progress together.

In closing, we have to share that the industry’s mind shift and reinvention were on display in the Exhibit Hall where discarded electronics parts were refashioned into imaginative art sculptures.  The flight of imagination in those is emblematic of the forces that are moving this industry forward.

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