Just under 20 member businesses passed e-Stewards surprise inspections and secret GPS tracker tests in the past two years. | Chaylek/Shutterstock
In 2021 and 2022, 18 e-Stewards-certified processors passed surprise inspections and secret GPS tracker tests, the certification program announced.
The e-Stewards certification includes a Performance Verification Program, “which helps ensure its recyclers adhere to global environmental justice principles even when no one is looking,” a press release noted.
That includes random, unannounced inspections in which accredited third-party certification auditors employed directly by e-Stewards show up at “any working hour and can request paperwork, interview employees and examine loading docks and floor operations,” the press release added.
Ten companies passed unannounced inspections in 2022: Ingram Micro Services in New Jersey; ERI in Massachusetts; RELDAN in Pennsylvania; ecoTech Management in New York; Anything IT in New Jersey; Global Ewaste Solutions USA in Minnesota; Comprenew in Michigan; Opportunity Enterprises in Indiana; Wisetek Solutions in Massachusetts; and North Coast Services in New Hampshire.
The e-Stewards program also embeds EarthEye GPS trackers in electronic scrap and drops it off at e-Stewards-certified locations to see if downstream pathways fulfill their international trade obligations. The results are announced two years after the trackers are deployed, as equipment can sometimes remain in storage at facilities for long periods.
Twelve locations demonstrated good behavior in their downstreams in 2021: Friendly Earth International in Washington state; Wisetek Solutions in Maryland; Executive Personal Computers in Pennsylvania and Texas; Vintage Tech/Kuusakoski in Pennsylvania; Universal Recycling Technologies in Oregon; Electronic Recyclers International in Washington state; 4THBIN in New York; Apto Solutions in Texas; Wisetek Solutions in Texas; Onsite Electronics (dba IT Refresh) in Colorado; and Blue Star Recyclers in Colorado.
Selena Turnock, e-Stewards certification director, said the Performance Verification Program creates “an additional layer of assurance.”
“This program distinguishes them from other electronics recyclers, showing that they embody the highest standards of environmental health and safety in all of their processes, every day of the year,” Turnock said.