Image via Electronic Recyclers

An investment firm focused on sustainable business has made a strategic investment in a Fresno-based company.

ERI, the nation’s largest cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company, has entered a partnership with New York-based Closed Loop Partners. The investment was described as “significant” in a news release, but the amount and terms were not disclosed.

The private equity group’s Leadership Fund focuses on investing in businesses that keep packaging, organics, electronics and apparel out of landfills and within a circular system, commonly known as the circular economy . Investors in the Fund include Microsoft, Nestlé and Unilever as well as institutional investors and family offices.

Ron Gonen, founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners has also been elected to ERI’s board of directors.

“ERI is the leading recycler of electronics in the United States, consistently demonstrating the viability of closed loop systems for high value materials,” said Gonen. “With Americans discarding $55 billion in e-waste annually, and the waste stream projected to grow more rapidly in the coming years, diverting these materials from landfills and back into manufacturing supply chains is critical. Our partnership with ERI will strengthen circular supply chains that ultimately benefit people, the planet and business.”

“This is the perfect time for a partnership between ERI and Closed Loop Partners,” said John Shegerian, ERI’s Chairman/CEO. “Due to a perfect storm of innovation, the internet of things, cars essentially becoming computers on wheels, an increase in wearable tech, the 4G to 5G switchover, increasing consumption, data privacy issues and other factors, e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world – growing at a rate five times faster than any other waste stream. By partnering with our longtime friends at Closed Loop Partners, we are ideally positioned to play a meaningful role in accelerating change.”