4 Stocks in Focus this International E-Waste Day

E-commerce boom coupled with increase in purchasing power led by Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) model, accelerated the demand for electronic devices.

Moreover, the COVID-19 crisis induced work-from-home trends positively influenced the demand for PC market, wearables, smartphones, and tablets.

However, growing consumerism is taking a toll on the environment as earth gets clogged with e-waste or electronic waste.

Declining life span in electronic devices as well as frequent upgrades leading to high rate of obsolescence have aggregated the problem of dealing with e-waste.

This year, International E-Waste Day, taking place on 14 October, will focus on ‘Consumer is the key to Circular Economy!’ theme.

The theme prioritizes the crucial part we enact as consumers and citizens, to make circularity a reality for e-products.

According to the UN, each person will generate 7.6 kg of e-waste on average in 2021, resulting in a massive 57.4 million tonnes, globally.

Only 17.4% of this e-waste comprising a mix of harmful substances and precious materials will be accounted as properly collected, treated, and recycled. This bolsters the demand for effective e-waste management solutions.

Allied Market Research projects global e-waste management market size to hit $143,870 million by 2028, from $49,880 million value estimated in 2020, implying a CAGR of 14.3% from 2021 to 2028.

It, therefore, makes sense to focus on top 4 companies with well chalked out e-waste management offerings:

The frontrunner in the bunch is rightly named Waste Management (WM). Houston, TX-based waste management services provider offers visible tracking of e-waste in compliance with electronic recycling laws.

The company provides convenient disposal services to recycle compact fluorescent bulbs and tubes, batteries, electronics spanning phones, computer systems, speakers, tablets, LCD & plasma flat screens, digital cameras and navigation devices, power cords and cables.

WM has a market cap of $65.152 billion and shares are up 34.7% YTD (as of market close on October 8). The company is poised to benefit from strength in business model and synergies from acquisition of Advanced Disposal Services.

Republic Services, Inc. (RSG) is one of the leading names involved in recycling and non-hazardous solid waste disposal.

Phoenix, AZ-based company continues to enhance the utilization of technology to differentiate service offerings and boost operational efficiencies.

RSG has a market cap of $39.999 billion and shares are up 34.3% YTD (as of market close on October 8). The company is benefiting from strengthening national footprint amid diversified exposure across franchise, large urban and small to mid-sized markets.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH) offers comprehensive recycling and disposal solutions for broken or obsolete electronic equipment.

Moreover, if the customer has equipment or technology that must be considered confidential, the company’s technicians ensure that the concerned items are destroyed. Also, it is made sure that no technical information can be recovered across any data storage components.

With a market cap of $5.796 billion, CLH shares are up 42.6% YTD (as of market close on October 8). The company is gaining from growth in Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions business.

Covanta Holding Corporation (CVA) is a notable provider of sustainable waste and energy solutions.

The company delivers electronics recycling services for end-of-life devices. The Morristown, NJ-based company also offers IT Asset Disposition services for reusable equipment (wipe, refurbish, resell laptops, monitors, etc.)

With a market cap of $2.683 billion, CVA shares are up 53.5% YTD (as of market close on October 8). Covanta is well positioned to gain from strength in its Waste-to-Energy (WTE) facilities.