Ten entities are founding partners in the R2 Leader...
Ten entities are founding partners in the R2 Leader e-waste program, said the Sustainable Electronics Recycling Initiative (SERI), which runs R2 certifications. They include DirecTV, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony America and Xerox. R2 Leaders have committed “to support R2 certified electronics…
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refurbishment and recycling, as well as consider R2 certification when choosing a recycling partner,” SERI said. “R2 Leaders also take a leadership role in a project to advance responsible reuse and/or recycling around the world, such as funding pilot projects for responsible recycling in developing countries, or creating new programs for electronics collection, refurbishment or recycling.” The R2 e-waste recycling standard was created six years ago to promote “best practices” in worker health and safety, environmental protection, chain-of-custody reporting, data security and other areas, SERI said. More than 540 e-waste facilities in 17 countries are R2-certified, SERI said. Not all are on board with R2, including the green group Basel Action Network (BAN), which runs the e-Stewards recycling certification program. Though it hails recent improvements in R2, including a new “code of practice,” BAN thinks the standard has “fundamental flaws” that “unfortunately facilitate socially and environmentally irresponsible behavior” in the e-waste industry, it said. Not only does R2 not conform to international hazardous waste laws that have been ratified by 180 countries under the Basel Convention, but its standard also allows a recycler to claim certification without actually certifying all facilities under its control, BAN said.