StEP to address e-scrap

An international drive has been launched to tackle rising volumes of electronics waste. The Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) initiative, hosted by the United Nations University, includes members from industry, academia, governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It promotes standardisation of electroscrap (e-scrap) recycling to recover valuable and potentially toxic chemicals.
Not everyone is happy with StEP. Basel Action Network (BAN) has already accused StEP of ’appearing to advocate illegal export of hazardous e-waste’. The NGO has also criticised the ‘€˜hardly open’€™ membership programme which seems designed to ‘€˜lock out’€™ interested parties.