Why E‑Waste Recycling Is Broken.

Earlier this week, I read a Wall Street Journal piece that’s been living rent-free in my head ever since: “Salvaging Critical Minerals From Old Laptops and Phones Isn’t So Easy.”

On the surface, it’s an article about e-waste. But as I went through it, line by line, it started to feel less like a news story and more like a description of our day-to-day reality at 2DaLoop.

One quote, in particular, stopped me cold:

“E-waste collection in the U.S. is still irregular and fragmented from municipal drop-offs to retailer take-back programs. This means recyclers can’t rely on steady, predictable volumes.”

That line hit me in the gut, because it captures exactly what we keep seeing in our work.

As a country, we’ve become world-class at manufacturing and distributing hardware at scale. We know how to design, build, and ship devices with incredible precision. But when it comes to bringing that hardware back to reclaim minerals, reuse parts, and recycle responsibly the system breaks down.

And here’s the thing: it’s not because people don’t care.
It’s because the infrastructure simply isn’t there. And where infrastructure does exist, it’s siloed, fragmented, and disconnected from the rest of the supply chain.

The E-Waste Reality: Beyond the Big Scary Number

We’ve all seen the big number:
62 billion kilograms of raw or electronic waste in circulation.

It’s a staggering metric, but what really hit me as we dug deeper is this: that number reflects the now. It doesn’t fully account for what’s coming.

Over the past five or so years, we’ve had an IoT boom—a massive wave of connected, touchless, hands-free devices entering homes, buildings, factories, hospitals, schools… everywhere. All of those “smart” products are now fast approaching their first end-of-life cycle.

So when we talk about 62 billion kilograms, there’s a good chance that’s just the opening act.

This isn’t a hypothetical risk. It’s something we’re seeing up close as we talk to operators across the country. The volume, complexity, and variety of devices flowing into the back-end of the supply chain are increasing, and our systems aren’t prepared to handle what’s coming next.

The Hard Truth: It’s Not That No One Is Doing the Work

One of the biggest misconceptions around e-waste is that “nothing’s happening” or “no one cares.”
From where I’m standing, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

We’ve had the opportunity to speak with over a thousand operators across the ecosystem—recyclers, collectors, ITADs, consolidators, refurbishers, downstream processors. If there’s one thing I can say with confidence, it’s this:

There are so many organizations already doing the hard work.

They’re the ones:

• Collecting and consolidating devices

• Sorting and triaging material

• Dismantling hardware

• Recovering parts, metals, and components

I still remember one operator summing up their core business in three words:

“Cords, boards, and power supplies.”

Honestly, that alone could be a standalone business plan and in many cases, it’s a very profitable one.

So if the work is happening, what’s going wrong?

The problem is that most of these operators are working in their own bubble. Each one may have its own processes, its own tools, its own systems and often, they’re really good at what they do. But once you zoom out beyond any single organization, you start to see the cracks:

• Data doesn’t travel with the device.

• There’s no unified view of what exists, where it is, and what can be done with it.

• Collection is irregular, making supply unpredictable.

• Downstream flows are opaque, making outcomes hard to verify.

In short, the right people are doing the work, but they’re not connected.

Take-Back Isn’t the Problem. How We Treat It Is.

I want to be very clear about something:

Take-back programs are not a bad idea.
In fact, they’re a critical part of the solution.

The issue is that take-back has too often been treated as:

• A sustainability checkbox

• A marketing campaign

• A line item under “CSR”

Instead of what it really needs to be:

A core, non-negotiable function of the supply chain and one that when prioritized can be very profitable.

Upstream, OEMs and manufacturers have a rich toolkit:
ERP systems. PLM platforms. Marketplaces. Multi-tenant SaaS tools. Configuration engines. Real-time dashboards.

They have everything they need to build the future.

But at end-of-life? Most of what we see is:

• Siloed portals

• Spreadsheets and email threads

• One-off logistics workflows

• Systems that don’t talk to each other

We started this journey asking a simple question: “Is there yet another system people need?”

And we quickly realized the answer is No.

There are already millions of systems upstream and countless operators downstream. The missing piece isn’t more software for its own sake.

The missing piece is infrastructure, data, and transparency the connective tissue that lets all these efforts work together instead of in isolation.

Why Unification Matters for the Industrial Base

If you zoom out even further, this isn’t just a recycling problem. It’s an industrial base problem.

We’ve all seen the headlines about:

• Strengthening domestic supply chains

• Reducing dependency on volatile raw-material imports

• Building resilience in the face of geopolitical and climate shocks

We’re hearing versions of this across the U.S., Europe, Asia, everywhere. Every region is trying to figure out how to build a stronger local industrial base within its own borders.

Is trade important? Absolutely. Trade is essential and always will be.

But leveraging what we already have within our own systems, warehouses, data streams, and decommissioned devices does something powerful:

It makes trade more strategic and more valuable, rather than purely necessary.

It lets us move toward a truly unified supply chain, where:

• What we produce today

• Has a known, intentional, and valuable use tomorrow

This is why I get so animated about “infrastructure, data, and transparency.” It’s not abstract. It’s directly tied to:

• Resource security

• Environmental sustainability

• Economic opportunity

• A stronger industrial base

Turning Frustration into Action

We’ve perfected the art of shipping hardware at scale. We’ve built precise, efficient, beautifully optimized systems for getting devices into the world. But we’ve neglected what might be the most important part of the lifecycle: getting those devices back; safely, predictably, and responsibly. That isn’t a small oversight. It’s a structural flaw. One that threatens:

• Our resource sustainability

• Our environmental health

• Our supply-chain resilience

• And the strength of our industrial base

The future of electronics isn’t disposable.
It’s circular, connected, and data-driven.

If that WSJ article gave you the same knot in your stomach it gave me…
If you’re sitting in OEM, sustainability, reverse logistics, ITAD, or policy and wrestling with similar questions…

We would love to compare notes.

Because reclaiming value from what we build isn’t just good business.
It’s the right business.

🔗 Article: Salvaging Critical Minerals From Old Laptops and Phones Isn’t So Easy