ERI Seeks BAN e-Stewards Certification

Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), headquartered in Fresno, Calif., has contracted with certifying body QMI SAI Global to be audited to the Basel Action Network’s (BAN) e-Stewards certification for electronics recyclers, 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 electronic scrap. The certification also calls for the 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-Stewards certification from BAN, ERI must be ISO 14001 certified. After receiving ISO certification, an electronics recycler undergoes an audit by auditors trained by SAI Global under BAN supervision in accordance to the e-Stewards Standard.

"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."