November 10, 2008
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Basel Action Network and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition joined today with the nation's leading electronics recycler, Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), headquartered in Fresno, California, with locations in Denver, Indianapolis, Washington State, Minnesota and the Boston area to announce the development of the e-Stewards Initiative -- a new certification program for North America's most responsible e-waste recyclers.
The e-Steward Initiative will become the first independently audited and accredited electronic waste recycler certification program forbidding the dumping of toxic e-waste in developing countries, local landfills and incinerators; the use of prison labor; and the unauthorized release of private data.
"Unfortunately today, most companies calling themselves electronics recyclers are scammers," said Sarah Westervelt, e-Stewards project coordinator at the Basel Action Network (BAN) in Seattle. "They simply load up containers of old computers and ship them off to China or Africa. By choosing an e-Steward recycler, consumers and large businesses are assured that their old computers and TVs will be safely managed, and not simply tossed into a local landfill, processed unsafely by prison laborers, or exported to developing countries."
The e-Stewards announcement follows Sunday's expose on CBS' 60 Minutes exosing fraudulent electronic recycling and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's recently aired Electronic Dumping Ground. These programs reveal that computers given to many recyclers in the United States and Canada are likely to be dumped in China or Africa, where e-waste is causing immeasurable environmental and health problems.
"The genuinely responsible recyclers in North America face unfair competition from thousands of unethical, so-called 'waste recyclers' that would more accurately be called 'waste shippers,'" said John S. Shegerian, Chairman and CEO of ERI, an e-Steward founder organization and North America's leading recycler of electronic waste. "We strongly support a certified, audited program to separate the legitimate recyclers from the low-road operators. Our planet's glut of e-waste is no longer a problem we can sweep under the rug -- consumers and businesses who want to play a role in the solution need to know which organizations recycle e-waste responsibly and appropriately. We applaud the Basel Action Network's proactive efforts to establish the e-Steward designation, a designation that we at ERI carry with pride."
BAN announced that by early 2010 the e-Steward 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.
"The e-Stewards project is a response to the failure of government and industry to act as responsible global citizens in the age of information technology," said Jim Puckett, BAN executive director. "It is also a wonderful example of how industry leaders and activists can move mountains when they work together -- in this case, move mountains of e-waste to truly responsible recyclers only."
For more information about ERI, visit http://www.electronicrecyclers.com. For more information about the e-Stewards Initiative, visit www.e-Stewards.org. Or to learn more about global e-waste dumping, visit www.ban.org.
Now the largest recycler of electronic waste in the world, Fresno-headquartered Electronic Recyclers is licensed to de-manufacture and recycle televisions, computer monitors, computers, and other types of electronic equipment. ERI processes more than 10 million pounds of electronic waste per month. For more information about e-waste recycling and Electronic Recyclers, call 1-800-RECYCLING or visit http://www.electronicrecyclers.com.
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