Frank Lopez<\/a><\/p>\nElectronic Recyclers International (ERI), the nation\u2019s largest electronics recycler, has announced a collaboration that will expand its presence to Japan.<\/p>\n
ERI, headquartered in Fresno, announced on Tuesday a partnership with ITOCHU Corp., a leading global investment conglomerate engaged in domestic trading, importing and exporting.<\/p>\n
ERI and ITOCHU are partnering to bring state-of-the-art e-waste recycling and IT asset disposition (ITAD) services to Japan at the first foreign location of ERI.<\/p>\n
The venture, a 50-50 partnership between ERI and ITOCHU, will incorporate the best practices from both organizations, including ERI\u2019s innovation-driven circular solutions for responsibly recycling electronics and ITOCHU Group\u2019s networks and its partners in Japan and overseas, according to a news release.<\/p>\n
ERI CEO John Shegerian said he is honored to partner with the 150-plus year Japanese brand for this first-of-its-kind venture.<\/p>\n
\u201cITOCHU and ERI working together signals a unique, unprecedented partnership that will bring best sustainability and circularity practices from North America and Asia together as a unified front. Our work will be done in a radically transparent, end-to-end closed loop manner where materials will be kept out of landfills, responsibly recycled, and put back into the circular economy to produce new products in Japan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
ERI Japan is scheduled to begin doing business later this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ERI has eight locations across the nation and has recycled more than 2.5 billion pounds of e-waste in the U.S. since its founding in 2002.<\/p>\n
Shegerian said the ideal place to establish a base would be in the Kanto region of the greater Tokyo area, as ITOCHU has a subsidiary called Belong with an operating base there.<\/p>\n
But there are still multiple options under consideration, he added. Multiple sites are likely within the next few years. Shegerian said they project starting with 50 employees, eventually scaling up to more than 300 people.<\/p>\n
Plans call for opening a new facility for large-scale shredding operations in the months ahead.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s demand from corporations and municipalities for the safe, secure and appropriate processing, reuse, and recycling of IT equipment is rapidly increasing, Shegerian said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are determined that we can effectively deploy our strengths \u2014 such as advanced circular material recovery technologies and high levels of transparent tracking capabilities \u2014 while leveraging ITOCHU\u2019s strong local business foundation and customer network. These factors combined make Japan the most suitable destination for ERI\u2019s first expansion outside the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shegerian said ITOCHU\u2019s main philosophy of \u201cSanpo-yoshi, or \u2018good for the seller, the buyer, and society\u2019\u201d \u2014 lines up with ERI\u2019s mission to protect the planet, people and privacy.<\/p>\n
Daisuke Inoue, ITOCHU deputy general manager, said one of the main reasons they were attracted to the collaboration was ERI\u2019s environmental and social values along with their highly integrated, end-to-end business model covering collection, data destruction, shredding, resale and recycling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough this partnership, ITOCHU expects to enhance the overall sophistication of the IT equipment lifecycle in Japan. By combining Belong Inc. \u2014 ITOCHU\u2019s wholly owned subsidiary responsible for reuse and distribution \u2014 with ERI\u2019s advanced recycling technologies and traceability, we aim to provide a seamless, end-to-end solution from collection to reuse and recycling,\u201d Inoue said.<\/p>\n
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![\"tokyo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tokyo-jezael-melgoza-_noSmX8Kgoo-unsplash.jpg\")
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