Computer Export Certification Offered

A new certification program sponsored by non-profit trade association the World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association (WR3A) has been designed to certify pre-owned computer equipment export transactions.

The program is based on the transaction, not the user or the destination, according to WR3A president Robin Ingenthron. “USDA certifies beef, not the butcher,” says Ingenthron. “EPA certifies that water is clean, it does not declare a company a clean water producer. WR3A is trying to focus on which materials are easy to donate, and which require the expertise of an insured company with capacity to process lead and other chemicals.”

WR3A’s e-certification program asks generators and recyclers a number of questions about their material and their goals, and then tries to match the bidders with an appropriate list of service providers, much like an online dating service. Web site Recycle.net has offered to sponsor WR3A’s Web site.

Ingenthron says the U.S. EPA has long struggled with the number of electronic devices becoming obsolete each year. But while EPA estimated that 315 million computers would be upgraded between 2000 and 2004, those projections include two- and three-year-old computers, as well as 30-year-old TVs. Determining which ones should be donated to the poor or which ones should not be sent overseas can be a point of contention.

The WR3A e-certification program allows experts to play a greater role in the certification of individual materials or areas of expertise, says Ingenthron. As examples, he says those holding a one-day recycling event for computers should be able to find recyclers who can manage both the desirable computers and the “junk” ones.

Ingenthron notes that such event organizers should be wary of dealing with recyclers who tout themselves as “EPA Certified” recyclers, since there is no such thing as EPA certification.

WR3A, found on the Web at www.WR3A.org, was established in November of 2004 to promote consensus of “fair trade” practices in recycling. Patterned after “Fair Trade Coffee” programs, the WR3A gets suppliers to meet with the buyers, and works out a trade agreement so that everyone gets what they bargained for. Demand and repair expertise are so great overseas that an “export ban” will work about as well as growing all our coffee domestically, says Ingenthron.

The Board of Directors of WR3A consists of a former state regulator, a California university recycling program director, and a Digital Divide founder who distributes working computers in the U.S.-Mexico border region. It is funded primarily through donations from Good Point Recycling, Ingenthron’s electronics recycling firm based in Middlebury, Vt.

Many of WR3A’s members are based overseas. Refurbishing companies (including manufacturers who want to “take back” used electronics to the Asian factories where they were made) are desperate for quality surplus electronics, but unhappy with the sheer volume of un-repairable junk sent as “toxics along for the ride,” according to Ingenthron. They join WR3A to screen the loads they want to buy.

U.S.-based companies who have joined WR3A include several state and environmental agency contractors. Colin Davis has been named the group’s new director and has been hired to coordinate the membership and facilitate communication.