Building Upon a Forward-Looking Policy

In March of 2010, ISRI’s Board of Directors unanimously adopted a forward-looking policy and set of guidelines for the export of electronic scrap. This policy bans the export of electronic equipment and components for land-filling or incinerations for disposal and closely tracks the Responsible Recycling Practices (R2) developed by and supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a broad-based stakeholder group that included states, manufacturers, remanufacturers and recyclers, trade groups and NGOs.

ISRI (the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc.) has long advocated for the recycling of electronics in compliance with all domestic and international legal requirements. Our new policy requires that facilities outside the United States that recycle or refurbish electronics have a documented environmental, health and worker safety system that can be verified; requires a business record-keeping system to document compliance with all legal requirements; requires that any facility must be capable to handling hazardous waste; and ensures that U.S. exporters can confirm a facility they export to is in compliance with the law.

This policy is both socially responsible as well as practical to implement.

We felt that this new policy was so important that we are making educating the recycling community about it one of the key priorities of the upcoming ISRI Convention and Exhibition. We will explain the new policy and continue to build on the industry’s efforts to promote environmentally responsible operations at home and abroad.

The ISRI Convention will be held in San Diego from May 4 to May 8. The keynote speaker for the Electronics Spotlight forum will be Mike Richter, former New York Rangers Hockey All-Star and current partner in Environmental Capital Partners, who will speak on how companies can meet the challenges of tomorrow’s market through the adoption of socially responsible policies like ISRI’s export policy and becoming a Certified Electronics Recycler®. Richter’s company is one of the leading venture capital firms incorporating corporate social responsibility policies and programs as part of its decision-making process when investing in new companies.

Mike is one of the leading proponents of socially responsible investing and we look forward to the many insights and lessons that he will share with our members. This is an excellent opportunity to educate our members on how taking the socially responsible approach, such as our new policy on electronics recycling, also is the smart approach for today’s marketplace.

Another aspect of the convention programming will be classroom-style educational sessions for recyclers to hear first-hand from the first companies who are now part of the Certified Electronics Recycler® program. They will explain how this premium standard improves their operations, impacts their bottom line and meets the emerging needs of the marketplace. Becoming a Certified Electronics Recycler® requires a company to be certified to two standards: R2® and RIOS®. Both standards are accredited by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board.

The EPA’s innovative R2 program was finalized in 2008 to create and adopt safe and effective policies for electronics recycling in the United States and abroad. Career professionals at the EPA, several state governments, OEMs, electronic recyclers and trade associations (including ISRI and ITIC) were directly involved in developing and implementing these standards, ensuring that companies who were awarded the certification have to meet tough benchmarks.

RIOS® is an integrated, comprehensive environmental, health and safety management system that incorporates the key elements of existing standards such as ISO 14001 for environment, ISO 9001 for quality, and OSHAS 18001 for health and safety. RIOS is the first management system standard designed exclusively for the recycling industry.

These and other activities, such as tours of electronics recycling facilities in Southern California, make the ISRI 2010 Convention and Exhibition the place to be to see first-hand how socially responsible electronics recycling can be achieved through ISRI’s varied policies and programs. We invite you to participate in these exciting, informative and well-timed forums and sessions where the future of electronics recycling will be established.

--Robin Wiener, President of the Institute of Scrap Recycling, Inc. (ISRI)