New partnership shows Wharton's green side

After a new partnership, the Wharton school'senvironmental leadership initiative wants you think again before throwing away that old iPhone or laptop.

The world’s largest electronic recycling brand, Electronic Recyclers International, has partnered alongside Wharton’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership,with a goal of giving students opportunities to be exposed to and get involved in the electronic recycling industry.

ERI’s CEO John Shegerianwill join Wharton's ranks, serving on IGEL’s corporate advisory board, a group that generates ideas for IGEL conferences andresearch opportunities. Shegerian co-founded ERI in 2002and there are currently sevenlocations across the country, which encourage environmentally-friendly electronic disposal practices.

“We take everything with a cord and recycle it,” Shegerian said. “Electronics are the fastest growing solid product in the world. If you throw electronics into a landfill and it rains, [toxins] leak into the ecosystem. We want to keep it above ground and recycle it the right way.”

ERI recycles about 24 million pounds of electronic waste each month, Shegerian said.

Shegerian was inspired to connect with Wharton after a conference, where he met second year Masters of Environmental Studies student Kiley Sotomayor. “I mentioned IGEL to him as a way for him to connect with students and as a good place for him if he was recruiting students,” Sotomayor said.

Facilitating the partnership is IGEL’s senior associate director of business development Joanne Spigonardo,who works to garner and execute partnerships and make sure they are lucrative for the students. “We are raising money for the initiatives and allowing students to be involved with corporations that are making a difference in the world,” she said.

ERI is just the most recent of many groups IGEL has partnered with. Shegerian will join a board that currently features executives such as the President of Xerox Corporation, the Global Environment Executive at Bank of America and the Vice President of Sustainability at Merck.

Shegerian already knows what he wants to get out of the partnership. “I want to recruit from Wharton and hire the next generation of new business leaders,” Shegerian said. “I want to inspire students to start their own business to save the planet or to come work for ERI.”

Spigonardo was equally as excited. “It’s a big deal to have this type of partner that will be hiring our students,” she said. “It is an extremely lucrative partnerships on all fronts.”

Shegerian will come to Penn in March to meet with students and deliver a talk on March 18 about how his company offers solutions to responsibly recycle electronic waste.

Shegerian is eager to engage with students. “I give [the students] my phone number and my email,” he said. “I love talking to your generation of people — learning what’s hot, what’s not. That’s what it’s all about.”

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