The e-Stewards certification standard this week named companies that showed conformity with the standard during unannounced inspections this year. The group also announced companies that had positive results when their downstreams were audited with GPS trackers.
Managed by the Seattle-based Basel Action Network, e-Stewards on Nov. 3 published the list of a dozen North American electronics recycling and reuse companies that passed surprise inspections thus far during 2021.
Currently, these inspections are being conducted remotely due to the pandemic. They were carried out “by highly trained e-recycling auditors working for e-Stewards via handheld mobile smartphones.” Auditors examine the facility, interview workers, visit workstations, inspect storage and shipping areas, examine office files and more.
The companies that demonstrated compliance during audits this year were the following:
- BT Recycling Solutions of Zapopan, Mexico.
- Cascade Asset Management of Madison, Wis.
- Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations of Onalaska, Wis.
- eGreen IT Solutions of Phoenix.
- eSCO Processing & Recycling or Rogers, Ark.
- Friendly Earth International of Seattle.
- Kuusakoski of Peoria, Ill.
- Natural Evolution of Tulsa, Okla.
- Onsite Electronics Recycling (also doing business as IT Refresh) of Fort Collins, Colo.
- Recycle Boise of Boise, Idaho.
- Secure Enterprise Asset Management (SEAM) of Sioux Falls, S.D.
- Tech-Resale of Cedar City, Utah.
The certification group also highlighted companies that were targeted with GPS trackers to check their downstream e-scrap outlets. According to e-Stewards, these results are announced one year after tracker deployment; however, the pandemic put GPS tracking on pause in 2020, so the recent list of audited companies is from 2019.
The companies that demonstrated compliance with e-Stewards downstream practices in 2019 were the following:
- Comprenew of Grand Rapids, Mich.
- eLoop of Export, Pa.
- EPC of Stafford, Texas.
- ERI of Plainfield, Ind.
- Kuusakoski of Plainfield, Ill.
- Sipi Asset Recovery of Elk Grove Village, Ill.
- Sipi Asset Recovery of Hayward, Calif.
- Wisetek Solutions of Austin, Texas.
The e-Stewards initiative began unannounced inspections and GPS tracking as a regular part of auditing in 2017.
“It was our e-Stewards processors themselves that insisted on these unannounced and random methods of conformity assurance,” e-Stewards Certification Director Prema George said in the announcement. “They wanted to distinguish themselves from other companies by being caught doing the right thing.”
In other news, the certification standard is currently proposing a set of e-Stewards V4.0 Sanctioned Interpretations, which the group describes as small changes to the standard that are designed to foster clarity. Comments will be accepted through Dec. 1.
