Editor's Focus

Certification can be a successful marketing tool for electronics recyclers and electronic information destruction providers, depending on the customers they are targeting. The detailed policies and procedures such programs require also can help a company to operate in a systematic manner that ensures continuity from facility to facility and from customer to customer.

A number of electronics recyclers have obtained ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications for their processing facilities, which essentially means that they have quality and environmental management systems in place that outline their policies and procedures. These ISO certifications are not strictly tailored to the electronics recycling industry. However, other associations have developed industry-specific certification programs. The International Association of Electronics Recyclers (IAER) has a program tailored to the electronics recycling industry and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) has also designed a program. The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) has developed a certification program for hard drive and electronic media destruction.

Metech International, the subject of this month’s cover story, is ISO and IAER certified. Metech President and CEO Sam Advani says that many large electronics recyclers have either sought ISO certification or are moving toward it, however, some smaller companies are reluctant to pay the cost.

In a fragmented and unregulated industry like electronics recycling, certifications can help a customer narrow the field when selecting a service provider. Such customers may also want to perform their own audits to be certain they are comfortable with the operation.

Established electronics recyclers and secure destruction companies welcome such audits and encourage prospective and current customers to visit their facilities, and why shouldn’t they? If an organization has spent the time and effort to establish policies and procedures and put them into action, they should be proud to show off the results. And they just may persuade a prospective customer in the process.

In an environment as competitive as the electronics recycling industry, which is fraught with environmental and privacy concerns, such certifications can help a company distinguish itself from its competitors and provide transparency to an industry that is at times viewed with some skepticism.