Toxic Trade News / 21 September 2010
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ERI Seeks BAN e-Steward Certification
Electronic Recyclers International is working to receive the Basel Action Network’s E-Stewards E-Waste Recyclers Certification.
by Recycling Today
 
21 September 2010 – Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), headquartered in Fresno, Calif., has contracted with certifying body QMI SAI Global to be audited to receive the Basel Action Network’s (BAN) E-Stewards E-Waste Recycler Certification, according to a press release.

BAN’s certification is backed and supported by Greenpeace USA, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Electronics TakeBack Coalition and 68 other environmental organizations.

Corporate sponsors of the certification program include Samsung, Bank of America, Capital One Financial Corp. and Wells Fargo.

The e-Stewards Standard requires recyclers to eliminate the export of hazardous electronic scrap to developing countries, halt the dumping of the material in municipal landfills or incinerators, and cease the use of prison populations to manage the electronic scrap.

The certification also calls for strict protection of customers’ private data and occupational health safeguards to ensure that workers in recycling plants are not exposed to toxic dusts and fumes.

To receive its e-Steward Certification from BAN, ERI must be ISO 14001 certified. After receiving ISO certification, an electronics recycler undergoes a rigorous audit by auditors trained by SAI Global under BAN supervision in accordance to the e-Stewards Standard, drafted by BAN.

"The genuinely responsible recyclers in North America continue to face unfair competition from thousands of unethical, so-called 'waste recyclers' that would more accurately be called 'waste shippers,'" says John Shegerian, chairman and CEO of ERI. "We strongly support BAN’s certified, third-party audited program to separate the legitimate recyclers from the low-road operators and encourage other recyclers to also pursue certification."

 
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