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SERI 2014
Year End Report 
 
SERI's 2014 Year End Report, covering its first 6 months of operations, is now available.
The report highlights the transition to R2:2013, the launch of SERI, goals for 2015, and a brief overview of the organizations financials.   Download Report

  

R2 Marketing 
Webinar 
 
Tuesday, April 21
10:00am-11:30am 
(Central Time)

Learn strategies for building your business and marketing your R2 Certification from Bob McCarthy, who successfully landed many Fortune 500 accounts during his tenure as VP of Business Development at a large electronics remarketing and recycling firm.  Bob has more than 15 years of industry experience.  
 
FREE of charge for:
--R2 certified companies
--Companies that are pursuing certification and have paid the R2 license fee. 
To Register Contact: 
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Intro to R2
Training Webinar

Monday, March 16
10:00am-11:30am
(Central Time)
 
Monday, April 6
10:00am-11:30am
(Central Time)

This interactive course is for those who want a general overview of the R2 Standard requirements.  This course will also discuss the steps and costs of certification.  
No charge to attend
 
To Register Contact: 
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Advanced R2
Training Webinar

Tuesday, March 10*
10:00am-3:00pm
(Central Time)

Tuesday, April 14*
10:00am-3:00pm
(Central Time)

This interactive five-hour course covers the requirements of the R2 Standard in detail.  Auditors, consultants and facility managers are welcome to attend.  
Cost:  $300

*If less than 2 people are registered for Advanced Training, the webinar will be rescheduled.  
 
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Become R2 Certified
 
R2 is the leading global standard  
for the electronics recycling industry, setting a high bar for practices that protect the environment, human health, safety and the security of the recycling process. Show your customers that 

you are an industry leader.

 

     To become an R2 certified recycler, please contact a certification body. 

 

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NSF  

 

Orion Registrar, Inc. 

Orion Registrar, Inc.

 

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Perry Johnson Registrars, Inc.

 

 

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SGS 

 

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SAI
  
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We want to hear from you!  
Please send along any R2 related news or information that you think would be important to share with the electronics recycling community. 

Thank you! 
 
-the SERI team
In This Issue
Addition of R2 Technical Director
SERI Witness Audits will improve consistency among auditors
Encouraging models emerging for more sustainable electronics recycling in Africa & India
Arizona Dept. of Environmental Quality and Lenovo Join R2 Leader Program

SERI announces addition of R2 Technical Director

 

SERI is pleased to welcome Corey Dehmey to the new position of R2 Technical Director.  Corey's technical expertise comes from his time working for a large R2 certified recycler, working as a consultant, and his active participation on the R2 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). 

 

"My real-world experience in many parts of this industry have taught me to look at the principle of each requirement.  In understanding the principles, we can find business solutions that live up to the requirements of the R2 Standard," says Dehmey.

 

One of Corey's first projects was to initiate regular conference calls for R2 Certified recyclers.  The first call was in January, and based on participant feedback, future calls will be scheduled every other month.    The purpose of the calls is to support recyclers and refurbishers by discussing topics regarding the application of the R2 Standard.  Questions from participants are welcome.   While calls are intended to be educational, they are not focused on general training.  The topic for the next call will be debunking the myths about R2 Standard requirements.  Stay tuned for more details.

 

Corey will also have an active role in the development and leadership of the new R2 Technical Advisory Committee.  Updates to the TAC Charter and other procedural elements are being finalized to enable SERI to become accredited to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Essential Requirements for Due Process.  A selection process for TAC members is currently underway.  



New SERI Witness Audits will improve consistency among auditors

 

SERI witness audits will be starting in March/April.  The goal of the audits is to ensure consistency and accuracy among the CB's auditors, and to identify areas where more training or guidance is needed for auditors and/or recyclers. 

 

Witness audits will occur during regularly scheduled R2 audits.  An assessor representing SERI will follow the auditor or auditor team to evaluate their understanding of the R2 standard and associated guidance, as well as to assess the implementation of the R2 standard by the recycler.  

 

Witness audits will be conducted on randomly selected R2 recyclers and auditors representing a cross section of facilities, auditors and CBs.  SERI will witness audits conducted by all of the approved CBs.   All expenses for the witness assessor(s) will be borne by SERI. 

 

Initially, witness audits will focus on U.S. facilities.  As the program matures and SERI's international footprint continues to grow, witness audits will expand beyond the U.S.  Also planned for 2015 are "Spot Audits," which will be discussed in next month's newsletter. 

 


Encouraging emerging models for safer, more sustainable electronics recycling in Africa & India  

 

Fifty-five percent of the world's 2.3 billion mobile broadband subscriptions are in developing countries, with Africa leading the growth with 20% mobile-broadband penetration, up from just 2% in 2010.  

 By 2020,
the number of subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to exceed half a billion according to a November 2014 report released by the
Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA),
which represents many of the international mobile phone operators.   

 

Increased investment in wireless networks and the availability of affordable cell phones and other mobile devices (many of which are second hand) are largely responsible for Africa's surge in electronics growth.  While this is good news for the region on many fronts, such as improved access to healthcare, banking services, education, agricultural markets, government services, and e-commerce opportunities, it has also presented the region with a serious and increasingly urgent challenge. 

 

Assessing current electronics recycling operations
in Agbogbloshie, and laying the ground work for
a safe and sustainable alternative.

While there has been vibrant growth in the repair and refurbishment industry which is rarely mentioned in conversations about "what is going on in Africa" (an important topic for another article), the region lacks facilities that can safely and sustainably manage the growing volume of end-of-life electronics.  This has resulted in an informal electronics "recycling" industry that utilizes a range of practices that in many cases, pose serious health and safety consequences to workers, communities, and the environment.  Methods such as open air burning as a means to recover the metals found in discarded electronics are utilized.  Despite the known dangers of such practices, the immediacy of supporting families trumps worker concern over future health and environmental risks. 

 

This unfortunate dilemma has contributed to Agbogbloshie, located in the West African nation of Ghana, being named one of the 10 most polluted places on Earth.  Efforts over the past decade to shut down or ban informal recycling operations in economically disadvantaged regions have been met with resistance by workers, and have proven to be ineffective at stopping this dangerous, and often illegal, rudimentary "recycling" of used electronics.  Policy makers and others are beginning to propose a different approach for solving this global problem.  One such person is Eric Lundgren, CEO of IT Asset Partners (an R2 Certified company in based in California).  As Lundgren points out: "make good practices profitable, and people will naturally gravitate to them."

 

Last spring, Lundgren spent a month in Agbogbloshie building relationships and grass roots support for a safer, healthier and more financially beneficial alternative to some of the more dangerous practices.  Meetings with Ghana's Vice President Amissah-Arthur, other ministry officials, community leaders and workers proved promising, and Lundgren has started laying the groundwork for developing a safe and sustainable electronics recycling facility Ghana.

 

"My goal is to help workers understand that better methods mean better profits-and better health," says Lundgren.  "Burning cable to remove the plastic coating from the metal not only imposes a tremendous cost to the health of workers and the community, it also carries a significant economic cost by eliminating the resale value of the plastics and degrading the value of the metals that are recovered in the process." 

 

A safer and more sustainable approach is possible, one that does not cut out the informal sector but instead redefines its roles.  The informal sector can safely and efficiently collect and manually dismantle end-of-life electronics which can then be sold to a safe and sustainable recycling facility for "downstream" processing.  Using safer and more sustainable processing methods, this facility will also have the capacity to maximize the recovery of materials and value from the recycled electronics.  According to Lundgren, such a facility should be able to pay the informal sector significantly more than what they earned processing the materials on their own. 

 

Partnerships between certified facilities and the informal recycling sector offer a promising solution to a very complex global problem.   A similar model is already bringing change to parts of India.   E-Parisaraa, also an R2 Certified company, provides informal collectors with protective masks, gloves and training, and purchases the e-scrap they collect.  This arrangement moves the processing of e-scrap from backyard operations to E-Parisaraa's certified processing facilities that employ 180 workers - many of whom were previously engaged in the informal sector.  It also doubles the amount of precious metals and other valuable resources that are recovered from the processed materials.  (See Recycling Today Global Edition for full article).

 

The most sustainable solutions to the global e-scrap challenge will be found using a holistic approach that addresses not only the health and safety issues for workers and the environment, but the economic, geographic and cultural challenges as well.  SERI, along with R2 Leaders and R2 Certified recyclers and refurbishers, are paving the way for positive and sustainable changes in the electronics recycling industry around the world.   

 

  1. The Ghana e-waste Country Assessment  (produced with the support of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention)  http://ewasteguide.info/files/Amoyaw-Osei_2011_GreenAd-Empa.pdf 
  2. Rankings were compiled by The Blacksmith Institute and the Green Cross after surveying more than 2,000 sites.  http://www.worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/107 

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Lenovo

are newest members of R2 Leader Program

 

The R2 Leaders program continues to grow, with the addition of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Lenovo.  ADEQ will work with SERI to provide education to Arizona residents on the importance of responsibly managing used electronics and on where they can find certified recyclers within the state.

 

SERI is also excited to partner with Lenovo, the world's leading PC manufacturer. Lenovo brings a long-standing commitment to sustainability and has made a generous donation to support SERI's initiative to expand R2 Certification in Central and South America. 

 

The South America Project, spearheaded by R2 Leader partners DIRECTV, Arrow, Lenovo, and Greeneye Partners, reached a major milestone with the completion of the Spanish and Portuguese translations of the R2:2013 Standard, R2:2013 Guidance Document, and R2:2013 Checklist.  This will greatly advance the project goal which is to identify good candidates for R2 Certification in the region, and provide them with the resources and support to successfully complete R2 Certification.  The translated documents have been distributed to project partners and will be made available on the SERI website in the coming weeks.