Electronics

e-Stewards updates Ethical Electronics Recycling and Refurbishment Standard

The e-Stewards Certification Program has published the most recent version of its Ethical Electronics Recycling and Refurbishment Standard, which it describes as “more streamlined.”

A special drafting committee had been developing the revision to the standard since the summer of 2018.

“The revision process was smooth and very constructive, and the result is a standard that is easier to read and execute and at the same time has probably become more rigorous in the areas that matter most—human health, export controls and data security,” says Jim Puckett, founder and executive director of Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN), which created and administers e-Stewards.

The fourth version of the standard has been shortened from 99 to 60 pages. The formerly incorporated ISO 14001 Environmental Management System language has been removed, but the standard still requires certification to the ISO standard separately. By July 1, 2022, it also will require the AAA data security certification from the National Association for Information Destruction, Phoenix.

E-Stewards has a performance verification program that is designed to go beyond yearly audits by using GPS trackers to randomly sample downstream destinations of equipment that passes through e-Stewards facilities, as well as unannounced inspections, BAN says.

E-Stewards processors can continue to use the current version of the standard, V3.1, until Aug. 24, 2021, when it sunsets and the use of the updated version will be required.

“The e-Stewards certification is truly a one-stop shop for industry leaders in the ITAD (information technology asset disposition) space,” says e-Stewards Program Manager Salomé Stähli. “The new e-Stewards Standard V4.0 will greatly enhance the industry’s ability to offer gold-standard services from the smallest operators to transnational partners all over the globe.”