2015 was a year of growth and accomplishment for SERI and the R2 Program. Close to seventy new facilities achieved R2 certification, including facilities in the Czech Republic, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. R2 certified facilities are now in twenty-one countries, and efforts are underway to certify facilities in a number of additional countries around the world. To meet this growing global demand, translations of the R2 Standard are now available i n Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Mandarin. They can be downloaded from the R2 Document Library.
In 2015, SERI (the housing body for the R2 Standard) expanded its R2 Quality Program to include unannounced spot audits of certified facilities. For the most part, these audits have found facilities operating at a high level of performance with respect to R2's requirements. In other cases, the consultative nature of the spot audits has proven helpful in assisting facilities to better understand and implement the steps necessary to meet the R2's requirements. In a few instances, spot audits have led to the suspension of facilities that were not meeting key R2 requirements (e.g. the requirements of Provisions 3, 5, 6, 7, and 11).
With respect to education and outreach, SERI expanded training opportunities by offering new webinars including advanced R2 training for facility managers and auditors, an introductory webinar for those considering R2 certification, a webinar on marketing strategies for R2 recyclers, and bi-monthly webinars on various implementation topics - one for R2 auditors and another for R2 recyclers. SERI also developed a broad range of materials to help R2 certified companies educate existing and prospective customers concerning the risks associated with irresponsible recycling practices and the value of partnering with R2 certified recyclers and brokers.
SERI also worked to increase awareness of the importance of responsible electronics recycling and the R2 brand with the launch of three "awareness" campaigns. Refurbished Devices for Back to School targeted consumers and received print, radio and TV coverage.
A Focus on Electronics for America Recycles Day
primarily targeted businesses and received coverage in the business/finance sections of 23 online publications including Yahoo! Finance, Wallstreet Select, Bloomberg, Morning Star News, and the Daily Herald. Be "Green" While Making Space for New Electronic Holiday Gifts and Gadgets was a general interest campaign picked up by the Examiner.com.
The R2 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) was reconvened with many new members, including members from England, Ireland, and Singapore. Currently, the TAC has workgroups doing preliminary work on issues relating to CRTs; mercury-containing devices; and insurance, closure plans, and financial instruments. Importantly, the TAC process for revising the R2 Standard was accredited by ANSI - the American National Standards Institute. This distinguishes SERI as the only standards development organization for electronics recycling that is ANSI accredited.
SERI's R2 Leader program had a productive year, adding Lenovo, Sims Recycling Solutions, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality as participants - the latter being the first government agency to join the coalition. R2 Leader representatives held their first in-person, two-day workshop at Microsoft's offices in Austin, Texas to discuss key issues in electronics recycling. Another such meeting is tentatively scheduled for early 2016. Particularly noteworthy, R2 Leaders involved in the Latin America Pilot Project (DIRECTV, Oracle, Sims, and Arrow Electronics) made significant headway in assisting recyclers in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador to implement environmental, health and safety plans and prepare for their stage one R2 Certification audits.
In the year ahead, SERI will continue to focus on quality initiatives - including increased spot audits and enhanced training for recyclers and auditors - that strengthen the R2 Program. Building on what we've learned during the rollout of the R2 Leader Program's Latin America Pilot Project, plans are underway to make electronics repair and recycling safer and more accessible in other underserved regions of the world. We'll be sharing more details in the coming months.
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