E-scrap certification scheme

Archiv – Two environmental groups in the USA – the Basel Action Network (BAN) and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition – are to launch an electronic waste accreditation and certification programme which is designed to prohibit the overseas shipment of toxic e-waste. United States | Two environmental groups in the USA – the Basel Action Network (BAN) and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition – are to launch an electronic waste accreditation and certification programme which is designed to prohibit the overseas shipment of toxic e-waste.
Set to go live in early 2010, the scheme has already won the signatures of 32 US electronics recyclers. The certification programme will be an extension of BAN’s E-Stewards initiative which lists environmentally responsible e-waste recyclers but does not audit their practices.
For several years, environmental groups have been campaigning against the USA and other countries shipping their toxic e-waste to developing countries. The new scheme will be North America’€™s first independently audited and accredited e-waste recycler certification programme, according to BAN.
There is no overarching US law to prohibit dumping e-waste elsewhere, according to BAN’€™s E-Stewards Co-ordinator Sarah Westervelt, and so her organisation will continue to push for federal legislation. Recyclers wanting to be certified under the new programme will not be allowed to dump toxic e-waste overseas or to ship it to local landfills or incinerators. The certification will prohibit companies from using prison labour to process e-waste and from releasing private data contained on discarded computers.