Electric and electronic equipment equals 6% of the U.S. gross domestic product, up from 5%, 10 years ago. E-waste constitutes as much as 5% of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream and continues to grow 5 times faster than all other waste streams. E-waste is the fastest growing segment of municipal solid waste. Annually it is a $40 billon industry.

Analyzing the e-waste segmented market brings two explosive trends to the forefront.

National Trend

• Municipalities, governments, and corporate America are all looking to polish their green and sustainability images further by embracing ERI's easy one stop national solution.
• Like global warming a few years ago, the drum beat to address e-waste properly, is growing louder every day... on a local, national and international basis. There is no denying or ignoring the electronic waste crisis anymore.
• Faced with costly clean-ups, looming health concerns and growing climate-change-induced public awareness of the planet's fragility, more states are mandating e-recycling. Eventually all states should have an electronic waste ban.
• This trend creates new opportunities for nationally positioned electronic recyclers, such as Electronic Recyclers International, as well as those companies that are involved in the recovery and refining of base metals.

ERI Opportunity

• ERI's national footprint creates a the only real one stop electronic waste recycling solution in the US.
• ERI will benefit from the aggregation of electronic scrap and it's "best of breed" electronic waste shredders that are geographically situated to service every state in the entire US.
• ERI is well-positioned to take advantage of positive long-term scrap industry demand dynamics given ERI's leading market position and comprehensive operations.
• Global demand for scrap will continue to grow driven by the following factors:
  1. Numerous countries are still undergoing their industrial and technological evolutions (For example China and India) which has created an almost unquenchable demand for all commodities (especially metals and plastics) that are derived from the US.
  2. Increasing electronic arc furnace (EAF) production capacity on a worldwide basis
  3. Relatively high cost of scrap substitutes (such as pig iron) that make scrap metal more economically attractive
  4. Rising standards of living, particularly in developing economies, that result in a greater demand for steel and all metal commodities.
  5. The rising costs of classic and legacy mining operations have risen dramatically over the years, making it more cost effective for global smelters to rely on the best "Urban Miners" to supply them their raw commodities.
  6. ERI is the undisputed number one "Urban Mining" brand in the world.