Technical Advisory Committee holds first in-person meeting

Members of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) held their first face-to-face meeting in Chicago September 20th.  The TAC, which was formed in June, has been working on developing guidance for the current version of the R2 Standard as well as identifying areas of the Standard to consider modifying during the Standard revision process.   A diverse group of stakeholders was present at the meeting, including OEMs and other customers of recycling services, recyclers, refurbishers, downstream vendors, auditors and consultants, and government regulators.   Members of the public were also present and participated in the discussions.  The discussions focused largely on review of the draft guidance developed by the Guidance Workgroup and on how to proceed with the Standard revision process. 

     The Guidance Document, expected to be available for public review and comment in November, will provide further information about what conformance looks like under different conditions and what the expectations for demonstrating conformance are for all R2 certified facilities. "The process that has been undertaken to develop the guidance, and which will be repeated during the standards revision process, is one that really allows for the concerns of all stakeholders to be heard and represented.  This brings a good deal of strength to the document, which has become a more balanced and effective document each time stakeholders weigh in," notes Kim Holmes, Program Manager for R2 Solutions.  "Being new to this type of multi-stakeholder development process, I was impressed to see how these interests can work together to create a document that delineates the best practices customers want to see, and makes it accessible so that recyclers and refurbishers, regardless of size, can implement those practices."

     The Standards Workgroup is scheduled to begin the revision process in October.  They will undertake a similar process as the Guidance Workgroup, allowing each TAC member, as well as the public, an opportunity to weigh in.  Many suggestions from the public have been included in the discussion, and a revised version of the R2 Standard is expected to be available for review and additional public comment in a few months.  

     "We are very pleased with the quality of participation from stakeholders, which lent to a very informative discussion and productive meeting," notes Rike Sandlin, TAC co-chair and Senior Vice President of HiTech Assets.  "The strength and transparency of the process has been reinforced by the sincerity of the TAC members.  This momentum will carry us forward through the fall, as we continue deliberations on both the Guidance and Standard documents, and until the TAC meets again."  An official announcement providing details of the next meeting will be made a few weeks prior to its being held.   

     Meeting minutes from this TAC meeting will be posted on the R2 Solutions website.

TAC to help create QA Policy  

A TAC workgroup has been convened to continue work on developing the Quality Assurance Program framework.  This past spring, R2 Solutions began the process of exploring different mechanisms that could be used to promote consistency in interpretation and application of the R2 Standard as well as to monitor the ongoing conformance of R2 certified recyclers.  After exploring these options, R2 Solutions developed a white paper laying out these strategies and made it available for public review and comment.  Since then, R2 Solutions has continued to gather feedback about development of the QA Program from recyclers and other stakeholders.  The TAC workgroup will consider all of this information, and assist with developing a QA program proposal to the Board of Directors for consideration and adoption.  

     As a critical element of the QA program, the workgroup will propose the process that should be in place for managing suspected non-conformances.  This process will include the approach for corrective action and a process for appeals and review.   New developments will be included in future issues of the R2 Update and be made available on the R2 Solutions website.   

Each stakeholder plays a valuable role in the R2 process, particularly those recyclers that apply the principles of R2 on a daily basis and those customers that value the confidence that R2 can provide in the vendor selection process.  In an effort to continue to build relationships with these groups, R2 Solutions will begin holding bi-monthly calls with each of these stakeholders.  During each call, participants will be updated about the work R2 Solutions is doing, have an opportunity to share information with R2 Solutions, offer suggestions and ask questions. 

     The first of these meetings will be for R2-certified recyclers and will take place October 20th, at 1 pm EDT/10am PDT.  Call-in information will be made available as the call nears.  The first call for customers of recyclers will be held in November and will be announced in the October newsletter.

Conformity review:  Circuit Boards    

Conformity review is a monthly column highlighting important operational information concerning the R2 Standard

R2 Solutions has received a number of inquiries about which circuit boards fall under the classification of Focus Materials (FMs) and where these circuit boards may be found in electronics equipment and components.   The definition of "R2 Focus Materials" can be found in the definitions section of the Standard. It includes specific discussion of which circuit boards should be managed as an FM.  Circuit boards that fall into the FM category include:

Whole and shredded circuit boards, except for whole and shredded circuit boards that do not contain lead solder, and have undergone safe and effective mechanical processes, or manual dismantling, to recovery mercury and batteries.   

RoHS compliant, and other non-lead solder containing circuit boards would not be considered FMs if any batteries and mercury have been removed.  While many circuit boards are made to be RoHS compliant today, the materials that most recyclers are handling still contain lead solder.  Unless a recycler knows that a particular stream of electronics being handling is RoHS compliant, a recycler should assume that the circuit boars need to be handled in accordance with the requirements of Provision 5 of the Standard.

     All circuit boards containing lead, regardless of their size, location or function should be treated in accordance with Provision 5.  This includes (but is not limited to) mother boards, memory, slot processors, and expansion slots, green or black fiber glass processors, and all cards (ie, graphic cards, and network cards).