ReMA Represents the Industry at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Critical Minerals Summit

ReMA's Workforce team, Natalie Betts, ReMA's Vice President of Sustainability and Materials Systems, and Zoë Bierce, ReMA's Program Coordinator for Youth Outreach and Workforce Development, presented to the Washington Workforce Association about career opportunities in the recycled materials industry, with a focus on electronics recycling careers.

The presentation was part of a REMADE Institute workshop to highlight the Institute's bilingual training modules for entry-level staff of electronics recyclers, developed with ReMA and other partners.

"ReMA was able to introduce our industry and its career opportunities to over two dozen workforce professionals at this meeting," Betts said. "Organizations like the Washington Workforce Association are critical stakeholders in ReMA's career awareness initiatives, because they can reach hundreds if not thousands of jobseekers and can become force-multiplying advocates for joining the recycled materials industry."

The REMADE Institute, in partnership with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), ReMA, and the Remanufacturing Industries Council (RIC), is developing bilingual online workforce training in both Spanish and English for roles in the remanufacturing and electronics recycling industries that do not require four-year degrees. ReMA is providing feedback on the content. The training is being developed thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop Circular Economy workforce training for the nation's rapidly growing electronics recycled material and remanufacturing industries.

ReMA has additionally been engaging alongside REMADE with workforce development agencies, including in Montgomery County, PA and Washington State, to plan for an effective roll-out to jobseekers and workforce stakeholders. The first module is expected to launch in the fall and ReMA will support REMADE in sharing the training with electronics recyclers to support easier staff onboarding.