November 17, 2008—The Basel Action Network (BAN) and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition joined recently with 32 electronics recyclers in the US and Canada to announce that the e-Stewards program, which identifies the most responsible recyclers in North America, is soon to be fully accredited and certified.
The e-Steward Certification will be the continent’s first independently audited and accredited electronic waste recycler certification program. It will forbid the too-common practices of dumping of toxic e-waste in developing countries, local landfills, and incinerators; the use of prison labor to process e-waste; and the unauthorized release of private data contained in discarded computers.
The e-Stewards announcement follows a gritty expos on CBS’ 60 Minutes, “Following the Trail of Toxic e-Waste;” the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s recently aired “E-waste Dumping Ground;” and a recent episode of the French Canadian Program Panorama, “Electronic Waste: The Hidden Face of Recycling” (in French). These programs reveal that computers given to recyclers in the US and Canada are likely to be dumped in China or Africa, where e-waste is causing immeasurable environmental and health problems.
In September, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, Electronic Waste: EPA Needs to Better Control Harmful US Exports through Stronger Enforcement and More Comprehensive Regulation (.pdf file), denouncing the lack of government controls and enforcement over e-waste exports. The Electronic TakeBack Coalition and BAN are also pursuing federal legislation to ban national exports. If the legislation passes, the audited certification program will reportedly serve as a strong enforcement tool.
The e-Stewards already include 32 companies in 92 locations that have been qualified by BAN. Today, BAN announced that by early 2010 the program will feature an ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) certification system with third-party auditing. The funding to create this robust certification program was provided by 14 recycling companies designated as e-Steward Founders.
