100 new roles to be created to help Tech Corridor firm to tackle global e-waste challenge

Following a rapid spike in demand for their e-waste recycling services by UK businesses, government departments and local authorities, N2S has announced a major expansion programme which will create over 100 new jobs at their Bury St Edmunds HQ.  The firm specialises in helping organisations to reduce their carbon footprint through effective recycling of end-of-life IT equipment, which meeting with government, industry and safety regulations.  E-waste (electronic equipment waste) is the most rapidly growing waste stream in the world, with over 50million tonnes generated globally each year.  Each year N2S recycles around 250,000 IT devices with none of the equipment processed going to landfill.

25 of these new roles will be recruited imminently and include warehouse, logistics and IT equipment refurbishment positions to sales and field engineering support. Currently employing 95 people with many coming from the Tech Corridor region, around half of N2S’ additional recruits over the next year will be located at Bury St Edmunds where the company has operated its flagship IT equipment sales, refurbishment and recycling facility for almost 20 years. The remainder will be field based in equipment installation, deinstallation and logistical roles.

N2S was founded by Company Director Jack Gomarsall in 2002 with a vision to play a key role in developing pioneering new solutions to reduce the growing environmental challenge of  electronic waste.  In 2020 the firm partnered with Coventry University to explore the potential of bioleaching technology for the recovery of metals from electronic waste.  Electronics contain large quantities of precious metals, however, such metals are difficult to extract. The firm worked with the biomedical sciences department of Coventry University to apply microbiological ‘bioleaching’ techniques to remove precious metals from electronic waste. Bioleaching is the extraction of metals from their ores through the use of living organisms,  “bugs”.  N2S is the first company in the UK to extract precious metals using this revolutionary technique.

Bioleaching is a natural process, used in the mining industry for years to extral metals from ores, however this is the first industrial application to use bioleaching to solve the e-waste problem. The team also previously worked with the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor on a hackathon to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  Working alongside regional researchers, academics, innovators, entrepreneurs and students, the one day hackathon looked to pool minds to address challenges set by businesses relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  You can read more about the day, the challenges and the ideas by downloading our hackathon debrief.