Providing strategic advice and market insights for optimizing manufacturing relationships and achieving profitable environmental strategies to clients in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia since 1987.Have your customers or colleagues asked where your electronic products end up after use? They may have seen photos or footage of manual electronics “recycling” communities in disadvantaged regions of the world, and don’t want their products to be associated with deplorable conditions. Until now, you may not have been able to answer with certainty that your recycler was indeed an ethical one. Now, finally, there are standards for electronics recyclers that help us determine their level of responsibility to human and environmental health. The only question that remains, however, is which standard to choose.
This week TFI released a White Paper comparing and contrasting R2 and e-Stewards — two standards for electronics recycling. I encourage you to share this article with management, suppliers, customers, colleagues, and friends to make informed decisions about the standards that are right for themselves and their organizations. (Many thanks to my two co-contributors on the White Paper Kim Holmes (advocating for R2) and Barbara Kyle (advocating for e-Stewards), and to Electronic Waste Journal for publishing it, along with a summary.)
Read the white paper and comment below — do you think these two (and perhaps other) parallel standards will remain respected and espoused by their stakeholders, or will a harmonized standard develop and be embraced globally?
On another note – one standard that any proponent of responsible electronics recycling can support is that electronics be designed with economical reuse, refurbishment, disassembly, and recycling in mind. These — along with eliminating toxic substances and “dematerializing” hardware — are principles of “Design for Environment.” Consider attending next Wednesday’s Design for Environment Workshop I’m giving at the International Electronics Recycling Conference and Expo to begin to learn or reinforce your understanding of DfE for electronic products. This two-hour workshop is based on TFI’s full-day DfE Workshop at clients’ sites — training dozens of designers and supply-chain managers with hands-on exercises. I hope to see you there!
Tags: e-Stewards, R2, recycling standard
It appears to be more regulation for developed nations which will have minimal effect on the “cooks” baking boards over fire pots in Taiwan. I would compare it to environmentalists espousing the energy savings of LED lighting without considering the superfund sites the LED foundries are creating. No one ever considers the entire picture…