(re) blog: dialogue with Redemtech

E-Stewards Finds a Beachhead in Europe

At the Basel Action Network, we like to say that customers shouldn’t have to rely on trust when it comes to choosing a recycler to take care of their electronic and electrical equipment waste. That’s why we created the e-Stewards Electronic Recycling Certification program. We’re happy the program has now found a new beachhead in Europe, with the news that Redemtech recently became the first electronics recycler outside the U.S. to achieve e-Stewards Certification, for a plant it operates in the United Kingdom.

EPA’s Awakening Kindles Hope for End to National E-waste Dumping Scandal

Last month, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Chief Administrator Lisa Jackson declared at an international conference in Mexico that preventing e-waste and the related practices of irresponsibly managing it would now officially become one of the EPA’s top six global priorities. The other five: reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality, improving water quality, reducing toxics exposures and building stronger institutional frameworks.

EPA’s Recognition of e-Stewards is Good, But Won’t End Confusion

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finally decided to formally recognize the e-Stewards Recyclers certification standards developed by our group, the Basel Action Network. You can read more about it here. Chalk one up for environmental responsibility. The responsible environmental community hails this decision simply because the e-Stewards standard is the only one that bans hazardous electronic waste exports to developing countries – one of the most deadly pollution sources today.

Three Reasons Why Prof. Eric Williams has It Wrong About a Ban on E-waste Exports

Prof. Eric Williams, a professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University in Tempe, recently wrote an article titled Three Reasons Why a Ban on e-Waste Exports is Wrong in Discovery News. The gist of this article is:

• Given the increased use of electronics, the problem of e-waste is bound to get worse.
• But trade bans can cut jobs and push recycling to the black market.

Prof. Eric Williams' analysis is wrong in three areas. I reprint each of his faulty statements below and provide an alternative analysis.