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Tag Archives: Certification standards

In Our Opinion: Industry must commit to Basel e-plastics compliance

Published: February 1, 2024
Updated:

by
Cargo container ship at port.

Two leaders in the e-scrap certification sphere say new Basel rules on e-plastics present both challenges and opportunities. | Peresanz/Shutterstock

We may have started from different perspectives, and we may have different points of emphasis, but the e-Stewards and R2 standards have each played a highly significant role in improving the sustainability of electronics in the last few decades. It is certain that certification programs now serve to differentiate the good actors – the leaders who follow applicable laws, protect the earth, workers and communities – from the laggards, who do not.

As critical baselines, both the R2 and e-Stewards standards require the environmentally sound management (ESM) of electronic scrap or retired assets and legal compliance throughout the recycling chain. Assessing legal compliance can be complicated – particularly when international and national laws are considered, and given that there are varying definitions of materials and wastes. But regardless of the complexity, the requirement to assure legal compliance and ESM is a non-negotiable aspect of any respected standard, including R2 and e-Stewards.

Which brings us to the current hot topic of e-plastics, the Basel Convention, and the discovery of potential wide scale non-compliance with the new Basel plastics amendments.

In January 2021, amendments to the Basel Convention went into effect to begin controlling trade in mixed and contaminated plastic wastes (Annex II, Y48) for the first time. For most countries, this means trade in such materials would be subject to government notification and the receiving country’s consent prior to exportation. It also means any such trade can only take place if the recycling operations involved were deemed by the authorities of both countries to be environmentally sound.

But there’s a key caveat for U.S. stakeholders: The Basel Convention also requires that such trade only take place between countries that have ratified the Basel Convention, unless a special separate side agreement akin to Basel is instituted. The U.S. remains one of the few countries that has not ratified Basel, and only one such special agreement exists for Y48 plastic for the U.S. (an arrangement signed with Canada in 2020). This means that all the other 189 Basel Convention Parties, and in particular non-OECD countries, are highly likely to be legally off-limits to imports of Y48 plastic from the U.S.

The new global trade rules have also placed a spotlight on the Basel-party countries where much of the e-plastic had been flowing from the U.S. – such as Malaysia – with concerns that these countries are turning a blind eye to their own legal obligation to refuse such wastes from the U.S. and that their recycling facilities may not always be maintaining environmentally sound operations for all fractions of the mixed plastics.

What has changed is international law, not our recycling standards, their certification programs nor the good will of good recyclers. Similar Basel amendments controlling non-hazardous e-waste will enter into force on January 1, 2025. It is anticipated that this change will further isolate American recyclers if the U.S. remains a Basel non-Party at that time. It is clear we need to move towards more comprehensive solutions to facilitate proper legal and ESM recycling globally. And it is clear we need to be better prepared for what is coming.

Changes in international law present both pain and possibility

Without the expansion of plastics processing capacity and technology in the U.S., new bi-lateral agreements or the U.S. ratifying the Basel Convention, compliance with Basel rules will likely cause cascading unintended consequences.

Many plastics may be forced to go to disposal instead of recycling, at least in the short-term. With a drop in plastics recycling revenue, the costs of recycling plastics will increase, meaning the total cost of recycling electronic waste will increase. Thus, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs will need to pay recyclers more and manufacturers will likely need to collect more electronics to meet their recycling obligations in various states. Voluntary takeback programs may collapse entirely due to the economics no longer making sense. The bottom line is that the fewer plastics we can safely recycle, the further away we move from circularity and a more sustainable future.

But this situation also creates opportunities: The opportunity to work with OEMs to reassess the life-cycle advantages and disadvantages of plastics versus  metals; the opportunity to increase the quality of recycled plastics and develop the technology to clean and separate plastics closer to home; and an opportunity to enhance and align recycled content sourcing for various domestic industries with the e-plastics supply from the U.S. recycling industry.

Right now, BAN and SERI are both working on the immediate task of helping our facilities comply with the Basel plastic amendments and get ready for the forthcoming e-waste amendments to the Basel Convention coming in 2025 to ensure that all e-recycling is always conducted in a legal and environmentally sound manner, wherever it takes place globally.  Here are some of the highlights: 

  • BAN released a Guide to Plastic Waste Export Compliance for US Electronics Recyclers (a work in progress).
  • SERI has commissioned a report on the recycling of plastics in the R2 network. 
  • BAN is conducting research on the ESM of facilities around the world.
  • SERI will be publishing guidance for integrating the Basel amendments into the R2 management system and legal compliance, and guidance to perform legal compliance audits to the changes. 
  • BAN and SERI will be educating Certification Body (CB) auditors on how to audit each standard with the Basel amendments and take appropriate steps to write and close nonconformities.
  • BAN will be proposing an alteration of its Standard to align better with the Basel Convention on designating Y48 and Y49 (the upcoming e-waste listing) as being considered as Problematic, Components and Materials (PCMs) rather than Hazardous Waste.
  • Both BAN and SERI will be hosting and co-hosting webinars, training, and conference sessions on the topic. 
  • SERI has assembled a plastics workgroup from the R2 TAC and other plastics experts and will continue to facilitate that workgroup and pursue global solutions to recycle more plastics.
  • BAN has engaged its Leadership Council to provide rapid advice on the e-Plastics Challenge.

Both e-Stewards and R2 certification programs are committed to legal compliance and environmentally sound management of electronic assets. As part of that commitment, we will be enforcing legal compliance with the Basel Convention and its new amendments as a core tenet of our certifications.

More broadly we will continue to work together and with all stakeholders in government, manufacturers, enterprises, customers and consumers on the journey towards a more sustainable and circular future.

When challenges to our commitments, like this one, present themselves , we must all work collectively to meet those challenges – not to discard our commitments. Together, we aim to build a more ethical, circular, and sustainable future for generations to come.

Corey Dehmey is the Executive Director of Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI), which administers the R2 certification standard.

Jim Puckett is the Executive Director of the Basel Action Network (BAN), which administers the e-Stewards certification standard.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not imply endorsement by Resource Recycling, Inc. If you have a subject you wish to cover in an op-ed, please send a short proposal to [email protected] for consideration.

More stories about e-plastics

SERI acquires E-Reuse Conference and rebrands event

Published: February 2, 2024
Updated:

by

Sustainable Electronics Recycling International acquired the E-Reuse Conference and rebranded it as the Electronics Sustainability Summit. | Teerapong Mahawan/Shutterstock

A long-running electronics reuse conference is under new ownership by a nonprofit certification organization and has a new name, reflecting a goal to focus on a broader concept of “sustainability” in device management. Continue Reading

In Our Opinion: Industry must commit to Basel e-plastics compliance

Published: February 1, 2024
Updated:

by
Cargo container ship at port.

Two leaders in the e-scrap certification sphere say new Basel rules on e-plastics present both challenges and opportunities. | Peresanz/Shutterstock

We may have started from different perspectives, and we may have different points of emphasis, but the e-Stewards and R2 standards have each played a highly significant role in improving the sustainability of electronics in the last few decades. It is certain that certification programs now serve to differentiate the good actors – the leaders who follow applicable laws, protect the earth, workers and communities – from the laggards, who do not.

As critical baselines, both the R2 and e-Stewards standards require the environmentally sound management (ESM) of electronic scrap or retired assets and legal compliance throughout the recycling chain. Assessing legal compliance can be complicated – particularly when international and national laws are considered, and given that there are varying definitions of materials and wastes. But regardless of the complexity, the requirement to assure legal compliance and ESM is a non-negotiable aspect of any respected standard, including R2 and e-Stewards.

Which brings us to the current hot topic of e-plastics, the Basel Convention, and the discovery of potential wide scale non-compliance with the new Basel plastics amendments.

In January 2021, amendments to the Basel Convention went into effect to begin controlling trade in mixed and contaminated plastic wastes (Annex II, Y48) for the first time. For most countries, this means trade in such materials would be subject to government notification and the receiving country’s consent prior to exportation. It also means any such trade can only take place if the recycling operations involved were deemed by the authorities of both countries to be environmentally sound.

But there’s a key caveat for U.S. stakeholders: The Basel Convention also requires that such trade only take place between countries that have ratified the Basel Convention, unless a special separate side agreement akin to Basel is instituted. The U.S. remains one of the few countries that has not ratified Basel, and only one such special agreement exists for Y48 plastic for the U.S. (an arrangement signed with Canada in 2020). This means that all the other 189 Basel Convention Parties, and in particular non-OECD countries, are highly likely to be legally off-limits to imports of Y48 plastic from the U.S.

The new global trade rules have also placed a spotlight on the Basel-party countries where much of the e-plastic had been flowing from the U.S. – such as Malaysia – with concerns that these countries are turning a blind eye to their own legal obligation to refuse such wastes from the U.S. and that their recycling facilities may not always be maintaining environmentally sound operations for all fractions of the mixed plastics.

What has changed is international law, not our recycling standards, their certification programs nor the good will of good recyclers. Similar Basel amendments controlling non-hazardous e-waste will enter into force on January 1, 2025. It is anticipated that this change will further isolate American recyclers if the U.S. remains a Basel non-Party at that time. It is clear we need to move towards more comprehensive solutions to facilitate proper legal and ESM recycling globally. And it is clear we need to be better prepared for what is coming.

Changes in international law present both pain and possibility

Without the expansion of plastics processing capacity and technology in the U.S., new bi-lateral agreements or the U.S. ratifying the Basel Convention, compliance with Basel rules will likely cause cascading unintended consequences.

Many plastics may be forced to go to disposal instead of recycling, at least in the short-term. With a drop in plastics recycling revenue, the costs of recycling plastics will increase, meaning the total cost of recycling electronic waste will increase. Thus, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs will need to pay recyclers more and manufacturers will likely need to collect more electronics to meet their recycling obligations in various states. Voluntary takeback programs may collapse entirely due to the economics no longer making sense. The bottom line is that the fewer plastics we can safely recycle, the further away we move from circularity and a more sustainable future.

But this situation also creates opportunities: The opportunity to work with OEMs to reassess the life-cycle advantages and disadvantages of plastics versus  metals; the opportunity to increase the quality of recycled plastics and develop the technology to clean and separate plastics closer to home; and an opportunity to enhance and align recycled content sourcing for various domestic industries with the e-plastics supply from the U.S. recycling industry.

Right now, BAN and SERI are both working on the immediate task of helping our facilities comply with the Basel plastic amendments and get ready for the forthcoming e-waste amendments to the Basel Convention coming in 2025 to ensure that all e-recycling is always conducted in a legal and environmentally sound manner, wherever it takes place globally.  Here are some of the highlights: 

  • BAN released a Guide to Plastic Waste Export Compliance for US Electronics Recyclers (a work in progress).
  • SERI has commissioned a report on the recycling of plastics in the R2 network. 
  • BAN is conducting research on the ESM of facilities around the world.
  • SERI will be publishing guidance for integrating the Basel amendments into the R2 management system and legal compliance, and guidance to perform legal compliance audits to the changes. 
  • BAN and SERI will be educating Certification Body (CB) auditors on how to audit each standard with the Basel amendments and take appropriate steps to write and close nonconformities.
  • BAN will be proposing an alteration of its Standard to align better with the Basel Convention on designating Y48 and Y49 (the upcoming e-waste listing) as being considered as Problematic, Components and Materials (PCMs) rather than Hazardous Waste.
  • Both BAN and SERI will be hosting and co-hosting webinars, training, and conference sessions on the topic. 
  • SERI has assembled a plastics workgroup from the R2 TAC and other plastics experts and will continue to facilitate that workgroup and pursue global solutions to recycle more plastics.
  • BAN has engaged its Leadership Council to provide rapid advice on the e-Plastics Challenge.

Both e-Stewards and R2 certification programs are committed to legal compliance and environmentally sound management of electronic assets. As part of that commitment, we will be enforcing legal compliance with the Basel Convention and its new amendments as a core tenet of our certifications.

More broadly we will continue to work together and with all stakeholders in government, manufacturers, enterprises, customers and consumers on the journey towards a more sustainable and circular future.

When challenges to our commitments, like this one, present themselves , we must all work collectively to meet those challenges – not to discard our commitments. Together, we aim to build a more ethical, circular, and sustainable future for generations to come.

Corey Dehmey is the Executive Director of Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI), which administers the R2 certification standard.

Jim Puckett is the Executive Director of the Basel Action Network (BAN), which administers the e-Stewards certification standard.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not imply endorsement by Resource Recycling, Inc. If you have a subject you wish to cover in an op-ed, please send a short proposal to [email protected] for consideration.

More stories about e-plastics

Certification program applauds companies passing audits

Published: January 4, 2024
Updated:

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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.  Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |

Experts address the industry’s e-plastics crossroads

Published: November 29, 2023
Updated:

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Port Klang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where U.S. e-scrap companies send a lot of their e-plastics. Several insiders recently shared their thoughts on how the industry will approach e-plastics export violations. | Nicola Pulham/Shutterstock

Chris Kaasmann sees a parallel between the e-scrap industry’s requirement to start managing e-plastics differently and the need for the planet to switch to renewable energy. Both need to happen, but in neither case can you simply flip a switch to realize universal change.  Continue Reading

e-Stewards to develop an ITAD-specific standard

Published: July 26, 2023
Updated:

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After hearing feedback from companies that current certification requirements are challenging to achieve for more niche markets, e-Stewards is designing more targeted standards. | Yuri Photolife/Shutterstock

ITAD companies will soon have a certification option that’s more tailored to their daily operations. Continue Reading

SERI rolls out efforts to lower barriers to certification

Published: July 20, 2023
Updated:

by
Keyboard button with an award ribbon in gold.

Corey Dehmey, executive director of SERI, hopes the programs will make it easier for facilities to achieve R2 certification and find more R2-certified partners. | Cienpies Design/Shutterstock

The group behind the R2 standard is planning programs, including a mentoring initiative, to help smaller companies move toward certification and build a more equitable recycling network.
Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |

R2 certification deadline puts squeeze on some facilities

Published: June 22, 2023
Updated:

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A representative from SERI, the body that maintains the R2 standard, estimates that 82 facilities are still certified to the old R2:2013 standard. | Tashatuvango/Shutterstock

With the date to transition to the R2v3 certification standard one week away, stakeholders estimate dozens of electronics recycling and reuse facilities may temporarily lose their R2 certifications. The lapse could mean serious business consequences for companies.  Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |

Recycled-content certification for electronics launches

Published: May 17, 2023
Updated:

by
A person using a computer with hand on mouse and keyboard.

The recently launched certification standard, SCS-103A, sets thresholds, ranging from 5% to 50%, for recycled content in various categories of products. | DC Studio/Shutterstock

Environmental and sustainability certifier SCS Global Services launched a recycled-content certification for the electrical and electronic equipment industries that verifies the total percentage of recycled materials in products. Continue Reading

SERI releases R2 solar panel recycling standards draft

Published: May 3, 2023
Updated:

by
Solar panels on a residential roof.

SERI will be accepting comments on the draft of its photovoltaic module standards through June 12. | Perthsnap/Shutterstock

With solar panels and alternative energy growing more popular, e-scrap recycling organizations are preparing to handle more of the units at their end of life. Continue Reading